His Amusing Secretary
by Moonlight Petal
Summary: Sold by Eriol to the Li Company, Sakura Kinomoto faces her new, irresponsible boss: Syaoran Li. The man doesn't plan on making the job any easier for her and she resorts to threats and security guards in order to force him to do his work.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! It's been a while since I've updated anything so here we are, a brand new story. I'm not sure where exactly I want this to go, or if I want to continue it so let me know what you think! ;)

**Please read:** My beta hasn't replied for a quite a while and I'm looking for offers and recommendations for a new beta. Send me a message or let me know in a review if you're interested and/or have suggestions. Much thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>She let out a loud groan and ruffled her brown messy hair with frustration. "Where are you?" she muttered as she quickly searched through the messy desk. Papers were scattered chaotically across the surface. Miscellaneous candy wrappers and staplers were randomly placed in the drawers. Nothing was in any sensible order.<p>

"Did you find it yet Sakura?" a voice came from the other room.

Sakura yelled back out the door. "No! And this is the last time I'm helping you look for something Eriol! You have the messiest desk!"

Eriol peeked in the room and lifted his eyebrow. "It's not like your desk is in perfect shape."

"No, but at least I can find what I need, when I need it."

"Touché. Do you know where my tie is?"

"You have an extra on the coat rack."

"Oh. Why is it there?"

She shrugged. "This is your office. How am I supposed to know?"

"Crap!"

Sakura looked up from her search and sighed. "Really Eriol?"

Eriol shook his head back and forth. "Not my fault. Coffee just hates me." He stared down at the stained carpet and his damaged suit. "Too bad that I love it."

Sakura gave him an exasperated look. "I sometimes wonder why I still work for you."

Eriol gave her a cheeky grin. "You don't happen to have an extra suit do you?"

Silence filled the room. "I really should quit," Sakura suddenly said. Nonetheless she walked out of the room and over to her desk to grab her keys. "I'll be back."

Eriol gave her a brilliant smile. "I love you," he said in a singsong voice.

"Kiss my butt."

Eriol's laughter filled the room. Sakura smiled as she walked to her car to grab the extra suit. She didn't notice a pair of dark brown eyes following her.

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><p>The man's stormy grey eyes shimmered behind his spectacles. "Nope."<p>

"One hundred."

"She's a good worker."

"Five hundred."

"No can do."

"I've agreed because of your recommendation. I hope that you aren't using my current predicament against me to swindle me of my money."

The man smiled. "She'll be furious to hear that I sold her for so little. Besides, I hold her dearly. It'll take much more to buy her."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "One thousand."

Eriol sat up in his seat. "I'm honestly not as interested in the money that you are willing to pay as much as your willingness to sign _that_ contract with me…" he trailed off.

"Consider it done."

Eriol smirked and held out his hand. "It's a deal. It's pleasure doing business with you, Yelan."

Yelan shook his hand. "Likewise, Eriol."

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><p>She finished the last sentence on the document she was typing before she picked up the phone. "Yes Eriol?" she answered.<p>

"Come into my office for a second. We have a few things to discuss."

She placed the phone back into the receiver and knocked on his door before entering and greeted her boss and the woman he was sitting across from.

"This is Mrs. Li, head of the Li Company. And this is Sakura Kinomoto, my secretary."

Sakura smiled and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Li."

"Likewise, Ms. Kinomoto."

Eriol gestured to one of the chairs. "Have a seat. We have a few things to discuss."

Sakura sat down. "Should I grab a notebook to take notes with?"

"That's not necessary." He paused. "I believe that it would be best for Mrs. Li to explain this."

The elegant woman placed her attention on Sakura and spoke. "I'm in search of a very capable secretary and after consulting Eriol, he has recommended you. I'd like to offer you the chance to work at the Li Company."

"Well, I'm flattered but confused at the sudden turn of events."

Yelan elaborated. "I'm in a dilemma and as much as I hate to say it, I am a bit," she paused for a second before continuing, "desperate. I have already hired many secretaries, both experienced and new and they have all fell short of my expectations. I've consulted with Eriol and he has assured me that you are perfect for the job. I've also observed you a couple times while you were working and find myself satisfied. Of course, I understand that you might be reluctant to transfer. I am willing to make it worth your time."

She glanced at Eriol. What was going on? She spoke hesitatingly. "I doubt that I'm the best secretary. I might fall short of your expectations too."

"I trust in Eriol's judgment of character."

"You said that you were desperate earlier. May I ask what you meant by that?" Sakura noted that the elegant woman's shoulders sagged slightly and that a pained expression appeared in her eyes for a split moment.

"My son," she paused for a moment, "He… has gone through a predicament which has changed him drastically. He acts as a spoiled child now and despite holding office, he does not contribute much to the company. I need you to teach him about his current responsibilities."

Sakura was taken aback. "I don't mean to be rude but I feel that a psychiatrist or a business professor might be more of what you're looking for."

"I've already tried both."

"I'm sorry but I'll have to reject your offer. I've been working for Eriol for years and it would be cruel of me to sudden transfer to another company."

Eriol cleared his throat. "Actually, Yelan has agreed to support a contract of mine that I've been pushing for a while if I agree to 'transfer' you. I'll miss you of course but I think she needs you more than I do now."

Sakura gaped at him. Did he just sell her off for an agreement on a contract?

"Of course, I'm willing to double your currently salary and offer you more incentives. What can I do to convince you Ms. Kinomoto?"

Eriol spoke. "Actually Sakura, why don't you step out for a moment? I need to discuss something with Mrs. Li."

Sakura nodded her head and walked out of the office, her head spinning with the sudden events. What was Eriol thinking?

Once the door shut, Eriol faced Yelan. "I believe that it would be more beneficial for us to discuss her salary and benefits. She's not the type to blatantly ask for something and if she's going to be dealing with Syaoran, I want to make sure that she gets the most of this deal."

Yelan nodded. "Of course."

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><p>Sakura walked back into Eriol's office and sat back down. Yelan pushed a piece of paper in front of her eyes.<p>

"Here's the contract that Eriol and I have made for you. Please read it thoroughly first."

Sakura's eyes were wide as she read it through. "Isn't this salary a bit high for a secretary?"

"If you manage to accomplish your tasks, I think its well worth it."

Eriol handed her a pen and gave her a soft smile. "I've done my best to get you the most. I know you've been having financial issues recently and this should help."

"But what about you?"

He winked. "I may not find another cute and hardworking secretary like you but I'll manage."

Sakura's fingers slowly wrapped around the pen. What was she hesitating for? It may be a change of jobs, but it would definitely help her family out, especially with the increased salary. Her father needed it. Filled with sudden determination, she signed her name.

Yelan smiled. "Welcome to the Li Company, Ms. Kinomoto."

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><p>Review and make me happy! :D :D :D It'll encourage me to update faster. ;p<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>The building was big. Really, really big. Sakura's wide eyes stared up at the clear, shining windows and she took a deep breath in. Well, this was it: her new place of work. She walked into the building, passed a few security measures, and proceeded to her right where the elevator was. People were milling about but the atmosphere was comfortable. She liked it so far. The elevator dinged and she stepped out, prepared to meet her boss.<p>

Well, somewhat prepared anyways.

Coming across the door that had his name, she knocked and walked in. The room was quite spacious and decorated comfortably with waiting chairs on the side and a secretary's desk in the middle. There was another wooden door on the left side of the room that led to Mr. Li's personal office. She walked there and knocked. Loud boisterous noises were coming from the inside and it seemed to come from a bunch of raucous males. She knocked louder, thinking that they didn't hear.

"Come in," someone said.

Sakura stepped in and her eyes saw chaos.

The desk in the middle of the room was extremely messy; it was even worse than Eriol's and the worst thing was that it wasn't littered with papers but with food wrappers, garbage, videos, and where those magazines? There were dried soda stains and popped balloons on the pretty, light brown, almost white, wooden floor. She was sure that her boss was supposed to be preparing for the meeting he had in, she peeked at her watch, ten minutes, so what was he doing?

"Come here babe," said a blonde man.

Sakura was flabbergasted. Five grown men were sitting around what was supposed to be Mr. Li's desk and were playing… poker?

"Uh, I'm looking for Mr. Li?"

"Syaoran, you always get all of the girls," complained the blonde man.

The man with the messy brown hair spoke. "It's not my fault I'm filthy rich and sexy." He gave Sakura a seductive smile and asked her, "Isn't that right?"

Oh man. Sakura backed out of the room calmly, but quickly, her mind logically thinking. Was this some kind of prank or was that man sitting there truly Syaoran Li? Despite the impractical hope she had that it was a prank, her mind was telling her that her boss was in that room and that this was the reason why Mrs. Li needed her to 'fix' his attitude towards work. She walked back into the hall and gave a call to her boss's personal cell phone number.

"Hello? Mrs. Li? This is Sakura Kinomoto."

"Hello Ms. Kinomoto."

"I'm really sorry for the inconvenience. It's just that…"

"You've met my son."

"Yes."

"What was he doing this time?"

"I think that he was having a mini party in his office." She paused. "How would you like me to deal with the situation?"

"I'm giving you the freedom to do whatever you need to do. I've already notified the staff of your position, and although Syaoran is technically your boss, you are allowed to order him and throw anyone unscrupulous out of his office. You cannot be fired by him. I'd recommend putting the security number on speed dial too."

"Thank you for the advice."

"I know my son's problematic but I hope that you will stick with him for a while. He's not a cruel man."

"I'll do my best. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, and please feel free to call me when you need to."

"Thank you." Sakura took another deep breath in and straightened her posture. She knocked on his office door again and opened it. "Mr. Li, I am Sakura Kinomoto, your new secretary."

He raised his eyebrow. "I wasn't aware I got a new one."

One of the men around him nudged him. "She seems pretty cute. I wouldn't be complaining."

Sakura interrupted. "Mr. Li, you have a meeting in about five minutes."

"It's too bad that I'm not going, isn't it?" He gave her an infuriating smirk.

She ignored his comment for the time being. "Parties are not allowed during work hours. I'll have to ask everyone here to leave."

No one moved. The blonde man spoke. "Aww come on. Join us. Don't worry about work. I'll make sure you'll have a good time."

With perfect timing, three security guards walked up behind her. "Alright boys," said one of the larger guards. "It's work hours. Everyone out."

No one shifted.

Sakura grew irritated. "Alright, that's it! Everyone out right now and I mean it!" Her loud voice projected across the room and they looked at her in surprise. "If you guys want to go party, go somewhere else. This is a company and if the guards have to forcefully drag you out of the building and throw you onto the floor outside, so be it."

One of the men whistled. Sakura glared at the man and he raised his hands in surrender. "Got it, got it. We'll leave. Are you coming Syaoran?"

"Of course. Bye Miss Secretary," he said as he walked towards the door. As the security guards led the group outside, Sakura gripped onto Syaoran's wrist.

"Oh no you don't," she said. "You're currently on shift and you are not leaving until you have finished your work."

He chuckled in amusement. "Just who's the boss here? Me, or you?" He looked at his wrist. "Are you letting go?"

"No. Not unless you decide to go to the meeting."

He brought his wrist up to his head and slowly ran his tongue across her hand, causing her to let go quickly.

"Just what do you think—"

He walked away and closed the door. Sakura groaned at how awful her first day of work went. Although Yelan had warned her that her son wouldn't be very cooperative, she didn't think that he would be _that_ bad. Looking at the messy room, she decided that she would call the custodians first. And then she would get herself situated, and then… Well, she'd have to figure how to begin to make him do his work.

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><p>On the second day of that week, he had invited his friends into his office again. She banned them from entering. On the third day, he skipped an important meeting with the CEO of the Liu Company. Despite how hard Sakura tried to drag him there, she had to admit that she was much smaller than he was, and wasn't really able to budge him for more than a couple of steps. The fourth day, he had refused to write the contracts that he had procrastinated on, causing Lindy to pull an all-nighter to do it for him. The woman was exhausted when she was done and had felt horribly guilty for breaking her promise to see her daughter's dance recital. That was the day that Sakura became extremely angry at his irresponsibility. When the fifth day came, she began plotting. And on the sixth day that he entered his office, she was prepared to confront him.<p>

"Mr. Li."

"Ms. Kinomoto," he acknowledged.

"I'm not too happy with you."

His lips tilted upwards in amusement at her unexpected and blunt comment. "Oh?"

"You've been late to work every single morning and have only attended one meeting and even showed up twenty minutes late to it. You've done less than twenty percent of the paperwork given to you and you run off in the middle of the day. You have no respect for the company whatsoever and you don't seem to care about the trouble you cause others."

"Then fire me if I'm such a bad worker."

Her eyes narrowed. "You know that I have no power to fire you but I'm warning you today that unless you finish all your paperwork, you are not stepping outside of this building."

"I acknowledge that you have somehow convinced the security guards to be on your side and that I can't even bribe them to do my bidding or listen to me anymore. You forget though, that I'm still the heir of the Li Company and that you have no power to prevent me from leaving the building." He smirked. "I find you kind of interesting, Sakura Kinomoto. Your attempts to make me work these last few days have provided me with much entertainment."

Sakura refused to comment and Syaoran went back to his office.

An hour passed. And then another hour passed. And soon, it was noon and Syaoran Li stepped outside of his office to go to lunch. Sakura watched him as he walked towards the door that led to the hallways. He reached for the doorknob and twisted; it didn't budge. Confused, the man tried again but when he realized that he wasn't succeeding, he took his keys out of his pocket and pushed one in. They key wouldn't turn either. He pulled the key out and made sure that it was the right one. It was. Puzzled, he tried it again. He did not succeed. He turned back to his secretary. "The door's jammed."

She looked up from typing. "Oh that's too bad isn't it? I guess you'll have to skip lunch and spend time on paperwork instead."

"You changed the locks."

"That I did."

He slipped his keys back into his pocket. "This might work today but it won't work in the long run. You'll have to eventually give me the keys to open the office door; otherwise I won't be able to get into my office to work."

"It's specifically engineered by a dear friend of mine. The key that you just used will open the door from the outside. Only your mother, the head security guard, and I have the key that will allow you to unlock in from the inside. I recommend finishing the paperwork as I don't plan on letting you out until you complete them."

He smirked. "I guess I've underestimated you." Syaoran walked back into his office, a little shocked, but very amused at the length she went to force him to do his work. No one had ever attempted to lock him in the building before. However, she had underestimated him. Eventually, she would have to leave the building and all he had to do was follow her when the time came. He sat back in his chair and relaxed.

At three that afternoon, his stomach began growling.

At six that day, he was starving. He walked back into his secretary's office and found her eating pretzels.

"I'm starving," he told her.

"Tough luck," she replied without looking away from her computer.

"Do you really plan on locking me in here until I finish the paperwork?"

Sakura turned to face him. "I'm prepared to spend a whole week locked in here with you and no one, including your mother and the head security guard, is planning to stop me."

As much as he wanted to see whether or not she would actually spend a whole week in the office with him, he was pretty sure that he didn't want to last a week without food. Admitting defeat, he headed back into his office to do the paperwork.

Meanwhile, Sakura had a large silly grin on her face due to her first success.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Reviews and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated and will encourage a faster update! :D And please let me know if you spot any grammatical errors. :)

Special thanks to the reviewers:

**ForADayYouWereMine; Misa Li; LadyMidnightGuardian; kram32; Reader; Mayuri-Elize-Ackart; LeeMeru; James Birdsong; LunaxXmoongoddessXx; puasluoma; mochiusagi**

I really appreciated the comments! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Remember to review! It gives me good feedback. :D If you spot any grammatical errors, let me know please!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>The next week, he was only able to escape once from doing paperwork and that was the day that she forgot to lock the door. Yelan was impressed with the progress and continued to give Sakura full reign to do whatever she wanted. Sakura, however, was becoming extremely displeased. She knew that the only reason the man actually went along with her ploys was because he was humoring her. She had no doubt that if he really wanted to, he could have easily changed the locks or found some other way to escape from his job. However, despite the fact that he was just playing with her, he did do most of his paperwork now, and she supposed that was something she should be thankful for.<p>

She looked at the calendar, noting that she only had one more day to plot. No matter what, he had to go to the board meeting that Tuesday. Whether or not he would be useful would be another thing altogether.

At that moment, her boss walked out of his room.

"Mr. Li."

"Ms. Kinomoto."

"What can I do to convince you to participate in your meetings?"

He poured himself a cup of coffee. "I dunno."

"Please just go along with me and answer the question."

He paused, and then smirked, his amber eyes suddenly shinning with humor. "If you can somehow get me into the conference room and make me sit there throughout the whole meeting, from beginning to end, I'll contribute."

She raised her eyebrow. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that when you haven't shown up on time for any of your meetings?"

He shrugged. "That's for you to figure out." He took his cup of coffee and walked back into his office.

Sakura continued to brainstorm. After a few minutes, her face lit up. She grabbed her cell phone and walked into the hallway to make a phone call.

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><p>Sakura knocked on his door. "Mr. Li."<p>

"Come in."

She opened the door and raised an eyebrow at the scene. "Are you seriously playing a video game right now?"

"I am, and I'm currently winning."

She sighed. "I have something for you. Please follow me."

Curious, Syaoran paused his game and stepped outside of his office.

Sakura motioned to the chair on the other side of her desk. "Please sit."

He raised his eyebrow in inquiry.

"Just humor me please."

He acquiesced and sat down. Before he could blink, three security guards appeared from behind her desk and held him down onto the chair. There was one on each side of him and the one behind him was holding down his shoulders. He tensed. "Wha—"

Sakura began to work quickly. She bent down towards his legs and ignored the puzzled look that he sent her. She rolled up his right pant leg and began tying his leg to the chair. She then proceeded to the other one and after she was finished, she unrolled his pant legs so that they covered the rope. Her hands moved to his black tuxedo and began unbuttoning it.

"If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask."

"I've had my fair share of naked men, thank you very much."

He was astonished at her comment.

She halted her movements and looked at him mischievously. "Just kidding." She allowed herself a moment of celebration for catching him off guard before she resumed her mission. After grabbing the longer piece of rope, she wrapped her arms around him in order to bring the rope to the back and tie it. It forced her to slightly hug him and although she didn't notice this fact, he did. He was well aware that her front was pressing into his and he breathed in her delectable, light, flowery scent.

"Tim, I'm having trouble making the knot tight. Will you tie that for me?" she asked.

"Sure will." The security guard took his hands off Syaoran's shoulders to hold the rope and Syaoran took advantage of the movement to escape. However, seeing this, Sakura sat down onto his lap to prevent him from attempting to stand and the two security officers on both sides of him tighten their grip. He was stuck.

"Don't you dare," she told him in a low, threatening voice.

"If you wanted to sit in my lap, you could have just asked. I would have been perfectly accommodating and willing." He smirked. "Perhaps even eager."

She gave him a withering glare.

"Alright, all done," said Tim. "Should I tie his hands together too?"

"That would be great. Thank you Tim."

While he did that, Sakura stood up and faced her boss, placing her hands on her hips. "You told me the other day that as long as I get you into the conference room for the full meeting, you'll participate. I'm going to hold you to your words." She bent down and shifted his tuxedo, trying to hide the rope around his body. When satisfied with its positioning, she re-buttoned it. "Your mother has given me permission to put you in the back of the room to hide the rope around the back of your chair."

When Tim finished tying Syaoran's hands together, he nodded at his guards and Syaoran suddenly found himself, and the chair he was tied to, hoisted into the air. Together, they walked down to the conference room and received a couple of odd stares. The guards brought him towards the back of the room and set him down before the large rectangular table.

"Thanks for the help you guys. I really, really appreciate it," said Sakura with a grateful smile.

"Anytime," one of them replied and they walked out of the room.

Sakura took the seat to his left and pushed a few documents in front of him. "Here are the things that you need to present. We have a half an hour before the meeting starts so look through them."

"My hands are tied behind my back. How do you expect me to take notes or flip pages during the presentation?"

"I'll release your hands before the meeting starts."

He smirked. "And I'll just untie myself when my hands are free."

"We'll see about that."

And so, Sakura reviewed the documents with him and ten minutes before the meeting, people began filing in. With two minutes left before the meeting, Sakura discreetly untied his hands but held onto his left one under the table.

"Your right hand is free. I'll release your left hand when you need it but I'll be watching you so I wouldn't play any tricks if I were you."

"So you're going to hold my hand through the entire meeting."

"Yes."

Syaoran Li let out a chuckle. His little secretary was becoming more and more interesting with her wild plans and her gutsiness. Her reactions and her irritated state never failed to amuse him too. Halfway through the meeting, when it was his turn to speak, he felt her squeeze his hand in warning. He sat up straighter and prepared himself to speak.

He did brilliantly. Sakura was quite surprised, seeing how he didn't really prepare, but he presented the idea with charisma and she could tell that others were interested in what he had to say. She didn't know how he did it but he had an aura that commanded attention. It was truly a shame that he wasn't more serious about the company. She bet that he could contribute so much to it. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when his part was done and the disaster was avoided. Now they just had to listen to the others speak. She suddenly tensed.

He was lightly _rubbing_ little circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

She squeezed his hand in warning and heard him chuckle under his breath. He stopped but not a minute later he was rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb _again._ She sent him a glare but he pretended to be enraptured in what the other speaker was saying and ignored her. She inconspicuously stomped on his foot and saw him flinch for a split second before he covered it up.

Five minutes later, he intertwined their fingers. She sent him another glare and knew that he was just playing with her to rile her up. If she wasn't worried that he would untie himself and suddenly leave the meeting, she would gladly let go of his hand. But as she couldn't, she could only admit defeat.

The infuriating man looked at her and smirked. She growled under her breath. A few minutes later, a document was passed around and Sakura released his hand so he could flip through it quickly. Once he was done looking through it, he passed it along to the next person.

Sakura quietly cleared her throat and gave Syaoran a meaningful look.

He ignored it and kept his arms crossed, keeping his left hand out of her reach, just to tease her. He smirked at her frustrated expression and admitted that it was the most fun he ever had in a meeting.

A powerpoint was soon projected, diverting everyone's attention to the screen. Making sure that no one was looking at them, she reached across his body to grab his left hand.

He kept his arms crossed and she glared. Finally, she gave up. She supposed that as long as his arms were crossed, he couldn't untie the ropes and escape. Not a minute after that thought, she noticed that his hands were sneaking down towards his back to untie the rope. Her eyes narrowed and she took the opportunity to grab his left hand to stop him. He grinned.

And five minutes later he began rubbing little circles on the back of her hand… _again_.

Her right eyebrow twitched in irritation.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'm a big, big fan of reviews so keep them coming! All sorts of critiques and comments are appreciated. :) Even a simple, "update soon" if you don't normally review would be appreciated. What do you think about this chapter? More reviews=happier author=more encouragement to update sooner :p

And as always, special thanks to those who have reviewed and/or placed this story on their favorite and alert list!

Reviewers: (Thanks!)

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	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>"Your son takes the greatest pleasure in teasing me."<p>

Yelan placed her cup of coffee back onto the table. "Oh?"

"He finds me amusing and consistently does things just to aggravate me." Sakura huffed.

"How is he progressing?" Yelan asked. "I hear he's been doing most of his documents and is now attending over three quarters of the meetings."

Sakura mumbled under her breath.

"Pardon?"

She cleared her throat. "He's been more diligent with his documents, I'll admit. I left the door unlocked twice this past week but he only purposely escaped once. I guess that's improvement. At the same time…" Sakura paused and scowled. "He had the audacity to ask me to tie him up the other day!" she exclaimed.

Yelan was taken aback at her outburst and Sakura realized that the café went silent with her last statement. Her face suddenly took on a red hue.

Yelan's lips were quirking upwards into a smile. "Please do elaborate."

"He hasn't attended one meeting where he wasn't tied up. The first couple of times I had to call security to help hold him down to the chair. He was more cooperative afterwards. Then, the other day, he led me down to the conference room, plopped down on a chair, and asked me if I was going to tie him to it."

"What did you do?"

"He told me that if I didn't tie him, he wasn't going to attend, so I did."

Yelan tried to hide her mirth. "Oh? Is there anything else I should know?"

"I've somewhat dealt with his reluctance to do paperwork, and I've kind of devised a solution for him to attend meetings. I'm planning on working on his tardiness next."

"What's your plan?"

She groaned and slumped into the chair. "I don't know. I've never had to deal with this when I worked for Eriol. You don't happen to have any solutions, do you Mrs. Li?"

The elegant woman pulled out pen and a piece of paper. After writing down something, she handed the paper to Sakura. "That's his personal number, his house number, and his address. Should you ever feel the need to wake him up in the morning…" Yelan trailed off and smiled.

"I'm not sure that he'll take too well with me calling his house in the morning to wake him up."

"You never know. That just might be what he needs."

"I'll consider it. Thank you for the advice Mrs. Li," she smiled.

Yelan smiled back. "You're very welcome. I'd like to take the time to thank you for this Sakura. I'll admit that I had my reservations about you at first, as you didn't have many years of experience and I wasn't sure that you could handle my rowdy son. Eriol insisted that you were amazing though, so I took a gamble and it seems that I've hit the jackpot. Honestly, I was giving up hope on him when I asked for your help."

"Your son… He isn't really that bad of a guy and I'm only saying this because I'm in a good mood today. He's completely irresponsible at times and he can annoy me to no end, but I think he has a good, if somewhat childish heart." Her phone suddenly rang.

"Go on and answer it," stated Yelan.

Sakura excused herself and went outside to answer it. After a few minutes, she came back in a huff. "I take back what I said. If he has a good heart, it's buried deep, deep, deep down inside of him. I'm sorry but I have to go and take care of a few things. Please excuse me." With that, like a whirlwind, Sakura was gone and running to her car.

Yelan blinked. Well, that was interesting.

* * *

><p>Three days later, Syaoran looked up from his paperwork and found himself looking at his short, brunette secretary. "Yes?" he asked.<p>

"I have a present for you."

Syaoran leaned back into his seat, a grin forming on his face. "Oh? What is it?"

She placed a brown box in front of him.

"Should I be worried about what you got me?"

"Just do me a favor and open it up. It's not going to hurt you."

Syaoran complied as his curiosity was peaked. He lifted the lid on the cardboard box and pulled out the baby blue contraption. It seemed to be an alarm clock with white, large wheels on either side of it. "An alarm clock?"

"Yes. You always come into work late so I figured that your alarm clock isn't waking you up properly. You probably push the snooze button so many times that by the time you're finally awake, you're late."

He didn't feel like telling her that his alarm clock worked perfectly fine and that he purposely set it an hour after his shift started.

She took it out of his hands and began pushing the little white buttons on the top. "I'm going to give you a demonstration." She placed the item back onto his desk.

"Now what?" he asked.

"We wait."

After one minute, the alarm went off.

"Push the snooze button," Sakura commanded.

He did.

Silence filled the room.

"Now what?" he asked.

"We wait," she said again.

The alarm went off after another minute and it quickly rolled towards Syaoran. He jerked in surprise at the sudden movement and watched with wide eyes as it rolled off the table and onto the ground.

Sakura attempted to stifle her laughter after seeing his reaction. She didn't succeed and ended up laughing loudly. "The look on your face when it started moving," she gasped, "was priceless!"

Unaware of the situation, the alarm clock kept rolling on the floor, further away from them as it rang. It changed directions when it hit the wall. When Sakura finally caught her breath, she picked up the alarm clock, turned off the alarm, and spoke. "The machine only allows you to hit the snooze button once. The second time it rings, it'll run away so you'll have to get up to shut it off. It's an ingenious idea. Anyways, you have no excuse to arrive to work late now and that alarm clock was expensive so you better use it."

"Yes ma'am."

She walked out of his office and shut the door.

Fifteen seconds later, the heir of the Li Company was laughing freely.

* * *

><p>He pulled his keys out of the car but before he opened the door to step out, he remembered the little, brown cardboard box. Smirking, he grabbed it and headed into his house and up to his room. The white prim alarm clock by his bedside was chucked. Gently, he took the alarm clock that his secretary bought for him out of the box and onto the small table next to his bed.<p>

And the next morning, when the little blue alarm clock began to ring, he was reminded of his little, energetic secretary.

He grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> As always, remember to review! Please let me know what you think about their progression and tell me what you did or didn't like about the story. Critiques about the story and about general writing skills will be greatly appreciated too! :) If you notice any grammatical errors, please let me know so I can fix them.

By the way, yes the alarm clock exists. If you go to amazon and type in "clocky," it should be one of the first ones that show.

Thanks to the people who have placed this story on their favorite or alert list!

And special thanks to the reviewers:

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Of course, I'd love to see this list expand... *hint* *hint* *wink* *wink*

;D


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Remember to review for faster updates! :D :D :D hahaha

If there are any grammatical errors, please let me know and thanks to those who have been checking for me!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

* * *

><p>He said nonchalantly, "I'm not going."<p>

"For the last time, yes you are," she said firmly.

Syaoran shrugged and smirked. "What are you going to do? You can't lock me in a room or tie me up to a chair this time."

"You have to go. If you make the right connections during the party, you could possibly contribute greatly to the company. You're charming enough when you want to be."

He gave her a roguish smile. "I'm charming eh?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're going and that's final. I don't care what you say."

"No can do."

Sakura changed her tactics. "Please? The company expects you to be there. You wouldn't want to disappoint everyone right? And your mother needs your assistance."

"No amount of pleading will convince me to go to one of those stuffy, boring parties." He paused. "Well, unless… never mind."

He left her hanging on purpose and she knew it. "Never mind what?"

"I will only go if this certain… condition is fulfilled."

"And what is it?"

"I'm not telling you unless you promise me that you will do your best to accomplish it."

She noticed the sly look in his eyes but promised. "I'll do my best to grant your condition."

"Come with me to the party and be my source of entertainment."

Silence filled the room.

* * *

><p>Sakura sat across the desk from Yelan. Her boss asked her, "Were you successful?"<p>

"Yes, however, long story short, your son has agreed to go to the party only if I come with him as his 'entertainment.'"

"I think that this development is for the better and it makes me less nervous knowing that you'll be there to control him. Please make sure that he acts appropriately and that he doesn't offend someone."

Sakura nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Do you know ballroom dancing?"

"Yes, I've taken lessons before."

Yelan smiled. "That's good. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this but this party is extremely important. I don't believe that you will need the warning but many of our actions, especially as we are representing a large company, will be noted. On the day of the party, I will have a designer help prepare you. I'm not insinuating that you will dress inappropriately but it'll give me a peace of mind. As Syaoran's date, you'll be scrutinized."

"Oh but I'm not his date."

Yelan gave her a puzzled look. "You've agreed to accompany him right?"

"Yes, but he didn't ask me to be his date. He just asked me to come with him to it."

Yelan hid her smile. "You need an invitation to enter the party and they are specifically sent out to only prominent businessmen and business women. The only others that can attend are the dates of these people, and selected reporters."

Sakura sat in the chair shocked. "I think I've been tricked… again."

* * *

><p>One week later, Sakura was waiting in Yelan's office, waiting to be introduced to the woman who was to help find her dress and prepare her for party.<p>

A knock sounded on the door and a familiar woman with long back hair entered. "Good morning Mrs. Li and… Sakura?"

Sakura was surprised. "Tomoyo? What are you doing here?" A smile formed on her face and she stood to hug the other woman. "It's been a while."

"Yes it has unfortunately. I'm sorry that I haven't been able to hang out for months."

Yelan looked at the two women. "I suppose that you two are already acquainted?"

Tomoyo replied cheerily. "Yes, we're second cousins and really good friends."

Yelan smiled. "Well, I guess no introductions will be necessary."

"Is she the one that I'm preparing the dress for?"

Yelan nodded.

Tomoyo smiled gleefully. "Well, this shouldn't be too hard then. Remember all those times when we were little and I created those outfits for you?"

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, I remember. You always had the video camera on you too."

Tomoyo giggled. "Now I have a legitimate excuse to find something for you." She turned to Yelan. "Please rest assured; I will make sure that Sakura is one of the most beautiful women out there."

"Thank you. I'll leave it up to you then."

"Could I borrow her for the day? I'd like to make preparations."

"Absolutely. Thank you for doing this."

Tomoyo smiled. "I'm happy to assist."

* * *

><p>Sakura was currently in Mrs. Li's house, sitting in a guest room in front of a large mirror. For preparations that week, Tomoyo had taken her out of work at random moments in the day. Syaoran wasn't too happy, claiming that work was boring and tedious without her to tease. Sakura merely ignored his comment.<p>

While her boss had been sulking, she had been measured, poked and prodded, fitted, and dragged around to many spas, all for this big "party."

Tomoyo analyzed Sakura's hair. "I remember the days when you had that cute, short little hairstyle." She giggled. "You were so adorable; I had to record every moment on camera. Your reactions to everything were priceless."

Sakura smiled. "I remember that your hair was always at least twice the length of mine."

"Yeah but now yours is only a few inches shorter than mine. My mom always tells me that you inherited Nadeshiko's wavy hair." She shifted Sakura's hair around. "It's so pretty that it'd be a shame to put it up into an updo. I think a half do would suit you well."

Tomoyo proceeded to look through her hair accessories and gathered the necessary items to start. Sakura sat there patiently. "You're going to the same party as I am tonight right?"

"Yeah, mother will be there too. She misses you. You should come over for dinner sometime."

"That sounds fun."

They carried a light conversation and before she knew it, Tomoyo was done. "Alright, all set! Let's move on to makeup."

Sakura closed her eyes and allowed Tomoyo to apply whatever she deemed necessary. Soft brushes ran across her cheeks and eyelids. When she was done, Tomoyo had her stand up and spin around. She made a few more adjustments here and there and then declared that Sakura was ready.

"Go downstairs and meet Yelan. I'm going to go home and meet my mom."

"Thanks for today."

Tomoyo smiled. "I was happy to dress you up. Let me know if you have anymore parties or anything like that."

Sakura laughed. "I will and I'll see you at the party."

"Bye."

"Bye." Sakura slipped on her heels and walked down the stairs to where Syaoran and Yelan were waiting.

* * *

><p>Yelan was currently sitting on one of her couches, across from Syaoran. Both of them looked towards the stairs as they heard someone walking down. Out of the corner of her eye, Yelan noticed Syaoran's expression.<p>

He was entranced, and she understood why.

Sakura was dressed up very nicely that night in a beautiful, strapless, sea green dress that had a shimmering, beaded bodice. Tomoyo had specifically designed it for her. The flowing garment highlighted her curves and lightly caressed the floor as Sakura walked down the stairs. The light makeup she had on accentuated her face and her soft, shiny, wavy, auburn hair fell past her shoulders down to the middle of her back. She walked comfortably in high heels and Yelan was impressed with her posture.

"You look amazing," said Yelan as Sakura reached them. Yelan stood up and gave her a small hug. "Thank you for coming tonight."

"Thank you, and you look gorgeous tonight too."

Syaoran cleared his throat. "You look beautiful, Sakura."

Sakura was taken aback at the compliment but recovered herself and smiled. "Thank you Mr. Li."

"Call me Syaoran tonight."

She placed her hands on her hips. "You tricked me."

He smirked. "That I did. A revenge for all those times you've locked me in the room."

She had nothing to say back and decided to be kind that night. "You look nice too, Syaoran." And he did. His black tuxedo helped emphasize his broad shoulders, his narrow waist, and his lean physique while his pants accentuated his long legs.

He grinned. "Thanks."

Yelan watched the scene with interest. Then she spoke. "I am going to arrive there early and take care of a few things. I expect you to take care of Ms. Kinomoto, Syaoran."

"You can just call me Sakura."

"Then I'll have to insist on being called Yelan."

Sakura smiled.

"Alright, I'll see you two there."

Yelan left. Sakura looked at Syaoran and narrowed her eyes. "I've heard that you skipped the meeting last week when I wasn't there."

"You weren't there to tie me to a chair or hold my hand during the meeting. Why would I go?"

She huffed. "I don't know what to do with you. Please don't mess up tonight at least. I told your mom that I'd make sure that you would act appropriately."

"I dunno, maybe I'll need you to hold my hand through this too."

"I'm wearing heels tonight. If I accidentally step on your foot when you're being rude, don't blame me."

He walked forward, placed his arm across the back of her shoulders, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "I would never blame you."

"At least you have your charms turned on tonight. Just make sure you keep it up so that you don't insult anyone."

Syaoran chuckled. For all the times that he had casually flirted with women, this was the first time he had ever been told to keep up his attitude as not to offend anyone. "Come on, let's go. I'm driving you right?"

"Yeah, I didn't bring my car."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Please review! Critiques and comments are greatly appreciated! The next chapter is ready to be posted as soon as this chapter obtains a certain amount of reviews. ;)

Thanks to all those who have placed this story on their favorite and alert list!

Special thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter:

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	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Please let me know if there are any grammatical errors and remember to review!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

* * *

><p>Sakura stared, awed at the grand room. A large crystal chandelier was shining brightly at the top of the tall ceiling. Two beautiful staircases on either side of the room led up to the second floor and the balcony. The orchestra was playing a soothing song and the soft murmurs of people talking filled her ears. There were tables of food and refreshments along the sides and the room itself was filled with many people in different dresses and tuxes.<p>

Syaoran chuckled lightly at her facial expression. "I take it that you've never been to a party like this?"

She shook her head. "The ones that Eriol brought me to weren't usually this upscale."

"And who exactly is Eri—"

He was interrupted by Tomoyo. "Sakura!"

Sakura turned around and spotted her cousin. "Tomoyo," she greeted happily. "You look really good."

She winked. "You too. How's everything going so far?"

"Pretty well. We've just arrived."

"Yelan wanted me to tell you to enjoy yourself tonight and not too worry too much. She said that as long as Syaoran stays out of trouble, everything will be okay." Tomoyo spotted someone. "Oh, I have to go. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Sakura turned to Syaoran. "Now remember what we went over in the car. You will not insult anyone; you will not blatantly—"

"—disrespect others; I will not run away from the party; do I need to repeat everything else?" He smiled. "Relax. I promise you that I'll behave tonight."

She held up her pinky. "Pinky promise?"

He chuckled again and hooked his pinky with hers. "Pinky promise."

She still gave him a weary look. "You're acting awfully nice tonight."

"I'm in a good mood."

"Uh huh. Usually that spells trouble for the rest of us."

"I already promised that I'd be on my best behavior."

"Yeah but—"

"Let's dance."

Before she could reply, she was led by him to the dance floor. They faced each other and he gently took a hold of her right hand with his. She placed her left hand on his shoulder and he smoothly placed his right hand below her shoulder blade. They began to waltz.

"Your hair is soft," he said.

"Thanks." It was silent for a few seconds. "You're a pretty good dancer."

Syaoran smirked. "Naturally."

"You and your big ego."

"You're a good dancer too," he complimented.

"Thank you." She paused. "Aren't we supposed to talk to the CEO of the Ling Company tonight to and solidly connections? Shouldn't we go look for him now?"

His lips slightly tilted upwards and he shook his head. "Stop worrying about work. My mom said to have fun and that's what we're going to do. I told you that I would act appropriately tonight and I'll be sure to get what we need to do, done. Trust me."

"Okay." Sakura had to admit that dancing with him was more fun that what she had expected. Without worrying about work, she was able to relax and speak casually with her boss while they danced. When he wasn't teasing her, he was pleasant company.

As he promised, Syaoran did speak politely to others and spoke with those that he needed to speak to. They stayed together that night for majority of the time, mainly because Syaoran wouldn't let her leave him. He claimed that he would be too bored without her to tease.

At Sakura's insistence, Syaoran danced with a woman who asked him to dance. Sakura stood at the refreshment table and went to grab a cup of water.

"Sakura?"

She turned around and saw Eriol. "Eriol!" she exclaimed, giving him a big smile and a hug. "How have you been?"

"I can't find anything without you," he laughed.

"Which is the reason why I told you to dedicate fifteen minutes each morning organizing your items."

"I know, I know. How have you been recently?"

"My boss is annoying at times but the job didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would."

"I'm glad to hear that. Are you here as his date?"

She then began telling him the story of how she ended up at the party. That led to other questions and before she knew it, she began telling him about her tactics to get him to work.

Eriol laughed. "Why am I not surprised that you tied him to a chair? Only you would have the guts to do that. I can't believe some of the stuff you've done. I think I've underestimated you, Sakura."

She childishly stuck her tongue out at him for a moment. An arm suddenly wrapped behind and around her waist. She looked up at Syaoran. "Did you finish dancing already?"

"That woman was superficial. And this is…?" he said as he looked at Eriol.

"Oh, sorry! This is Syaoran Li, my current boss, and this is Eriol Hiiragizawa, my—"

"Her ex."

"He's your ex?"

"Ex-boss," she clarified. "Yes."

"Hnnn."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Eriol said, holding out his hand.

"I'm sure it was," Syaoran replied emotionlessly as he shook his hand. Sakura stomped on his foot and he cleared his throat. "It was a pleasure to meet you too."

Eriol smiled. "I have something I need to do right now so I'll see you two later. Give me a call sometime Sakura."

"Of course. I'll see you later Eriol."

Sakura turned to Syaoran. "Do you mind if I step out onto the balcony? It's getting a bit warm in here."

"I agree. Let's go."

They traveled to the stairs and up to the beautiful balcony. Sakura smiled as she leaned against the railing and looked up to the night sky. "I think the world's mysterious."

"Hmm?" he asked.

She took a deep breath in of the refreshing, outside air. "Every time I look up to the sky, I see a vast blackness with brightly shinning stars. It makes me wonder how big space is and if it ever ends. Then I start wondering how many other planets and galaxies are out there that we haven't discovered. That thought always leads me to wonder how many mysteries there are in the world that we haven't found an answer to or discovered."

Syaoran stood next to her and looked up to the sky too. "I wanted to be an astronaut when I was younger."

Sakura looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

He softly smiled, still staring at the sky. "Yeah. It was one of those dreams you have as a child. I even had those glow in the dark star stickers on my ceiling."

Sakura was trying to imagine what Syaoran was like as a child. "What made you change your decision to go into business?"

"Being an astronaut was just a dream I grew out of I guess."

"When did you decide to go into business then?"

"I didn't."

Sakura sent him a puzzled look and he looked down from the sky and at her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I never decided that I wanted to go into business. It's just always expected of me to inherit the position and I'm supposedly training for it now."

"I didn't know that."

He gave her a brief but gentle smile. "I know and I didn't expect you to know."

She bit her bottom lip. "So you don't like business?"

"It's not that I dislike working in business but after seeing how my fath—" he stopped himself. "Never mind. Let's go back inside."

Sakura didn't push him but she began reconsidering her opinion of him. Maybe there was more to him than she had thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Have I mentioned how amazing you guys are? ;) I had a large, silly grin on my face the whole time while reading the reviews. You guys are so inspirational and a big thanks to those who reviewed more than one chapter! *cough cough* **XTheEvilKitty059X** and **iAMyunisu** *cough cough* :D

As always, please remember to review! Critiques are greatly appreciated! And yes, the next chapter has already been written. :)

Thanks to those who have placed this story on their favorites and alert list.

Special thanks to the reviewers!

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	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

* * *

><p>Her eyes slowly began shutting, causing the computer screen in front of her to blur. She didn't realize that she had fallen asleep until her head had hit the desk. She jolted awake, sighed, and took another large gulp of the strong coffee. Despite this, her sleepiness was not chased away and the fact that she was doing the menial task of filling in numbers on excel for her boss didn't help. She felt miserable and she couldn't prevent her eyes from closing again.<p>

"Hey, are you alright?"

Sakura groggily looked up and stared into the amber eyes of her boss. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He gave her an incredulous look. "You look exhausted."

"I went to bed later than usual," she mumbled.

"Hmm." He looked at her for a few more seconds before he headed into his office. An hour later, when he walked back out, he saw her sleeping with her head resting on the desk. "Sakura?" he gently called.

She shifted a bit but gave no other response. He smiled softly and shook his head in disbelief, shrugging out of his black suit and gently placing in on her back to keep her warm. Noting her worn state, he, with the kindness his secretary had claimed was deep, deep, deep down inside of him, wrote a quick sign saying not to disturb. He opened the door, which was unlocked that day, and taped the sign on the outside of the door. When he walked back to her desk, he silenced her work phone, saved the document she had on her computer, and shut it down so that the light emitting from it wouldn't disturb her. Satisfied, he silently walked back into his office.

One hour later, he peeked out of his room to see if she was still sleeping. She was.

When the second hour had passed, he realized that she was probably much more tired than what he had originally thought and proceeded to close the blinds and turn off the lights in the room.

When the third hour passed, and she was still sleeping, he grew a bit worried. He considered waking her up but the peaceful expression she had on her face convinced him to let her sleep for a while longer.

And halfway through the fourth hour, while he was in the middle of signing the paper in front of him, he heard a loud, "Crap!"

He smirked and held back his laugh. No doubt she was freaking out over falling asleep on the job.

A soft knock sounded on his door and Sakura walked in with a small blush on her cheeks. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Don't worry about it. You were tired. I won't hold it against you." He seemed to consider his last statement for a moment before he spoke again. "Well, maybe." He sent her a grin.

Despite his comment, Sakura knew that he wouldn't really hold it against her. She walked towards him and handed him his suit. "Thank you for giving me this," she said gratefully.

He smoothly slipped it back on. "Do you want to go home today?"

She looked at him wearily. "Is this a ploy to get yourself out of work?"

"I'll get everything done," he assured her.

Giving him a small smile, she spoke. "Thanks for the offer but I should work." She walked out of his office and back to her desk. After taking a sip of her cold coffee, she moved the mouse but the computer screen didn't awaken. It took her a few seconds to discover that it was turned off. She had no recollection of shutting the computer down though. Becoming more awake, she noticed that the room was darker than usual. The shades were drawn and the lights were out. Her eyes widened as she realized Syaoran had probably done everything so she could sleep.

Well, perhaps the kindness he possessed wasn't hidden too deeply in his heart.

A while later, she suddenly realized that the day was extremely quiet. Her phone had not rung at all and there had been no visitors. Wondering if the phone was broken, she checked it and realized it was on silent. Suspicious, she walked to the door and opened it. Sure enough, there was a sign stating not to disturb in her boss's handwriting. A soft smile formed on her face as she took the sign off and went back into her office to listen to the voicemails.

When they left the building after their shift, she turned to face him and spoke sincerely. "Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Sakura let out a soft, pained groan as she wrapped her arms around her midsection. Miserably, she let out a sigh. She desired nothing more than to go home and curl into a little ball with a comforter wrapped around her securely, and warmly. Instead, she was sitting in the office with no bed in sight and no possibility of falling into a numbing sleep.<p>

She quickly fixed her posture and placed on a façade as her boss walked out of his office.

When he saw her face, he frowned. "You're pale."

"Am I?" she asked nonchalantly as she avoided eye contact and busied herself by shuffling the papers in front of her.

He walked towards her desk. "Yes. Extremely so. Are you sick? You couldn't keep your eyes open yesterday either."

She brushed it off. "I'll be fine."

His eyes narrowed. "I'm sure that you'll _be_ fine but are you fine right now?"

She didn't answer and continued to organize the items on her desk.

His eyes softened as he lifted his hands from his side to still hers. Her cold and clammy hands contrasted against his warm ones. "Take a sick day. I promise I won't slack off."

She didn't budge.

"Sakura," he said warningly, with a slight undertone of worry peaking through, "go get some rest."

She sighed and looked up at him. "Do I look that horrible?"

His reply was blunt. "You look like you're in excruciating pain."

She debated and then stood, deciding that it would be for the better. She wouldn't be able to get anything done in her state. After she took a couple steps forward, she paused, not wanting to walk anymore. She wanted to sink down to the floor.

Syaoran quickly moved towards her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to support her. "Never mind, I'll bring you to a doctor or a hospital. You look as if you're going to pass out."

"Don't," she insisted. "I'll be fine. I just need to sleep."

His right eyebrow rose at her denial. "You need more than just sleep. Come on, I'll drive you."

"No really," she reiterated. "I'll be fine. This always happens once in a while."

His left eyebrow rose to join his right. "This has happened before? Sakura, that isn't good. What's going on?"

She didn't know how to word it. "Just a… stomach ache… of sorts."

More worried, he began gently leading her towards the door. "That's a bad sign, especially when it occurs frequently. I'll bring you to the hospital to see what's wrong."

She resisted with whatever energy she had left. "Honestly, it's not that big of a deal. I'm going to be okay by tomorrow."

He sent her a chastising look. "Not that big of a deal? You look like you're going to pass out!"

She stood her ground. "Mr. Li, I know what's going on and I don't need to go to a doctor. It's… normal. It's supposed to happen."

He gave her another disbelieving look. "You're supposed to have a stomach ache?"

"Yes."

He stared at her.

She noted the look he was sending her. "Don't look at me as if I'm crazy. I'm being serious!"

"Okay, I really think we should get you to the hospital now." He began gently tugging her towards the door again.

She resisted. "I'm on my period."

He suddenly paused his movements and his eyes widened in understanding. After a moment, he spoke. "Oh." Silence filled the room. "So, uh, cramps?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh."

It was silent again.

"Is it usually that bad?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It's usually manageable but it becomes severe once in a while."

"Oh."

If she wasn't in pain, she would have laughed at his awkward facial expression. Instead, she opted to offer him a small, grateful smile. "Thanks for the offer to bring me to a hospital but I just need to sleep. I usually feel better afterwards." She gathered her energy and began walking forward listlessly.

Syaoran lightly grabbed her wrist to stop her. "You're not in a condition to drive. I'll bring you home."

She turned around to face him. "You can't. The report to the Liu Company is due for you in an hour because you decided not to do it yesterday and I bet that you haven't even started. You've already offended their CEO when you skipped the meeting last time so you really need to get it done."

"Your health is more important right now. Even if it's a bit late, they can't do much about it. Their company relies on ours."

"Mr. Li," she said warningly. He didn't budge. She sighed. "Alright, why don't you go finish that report and I'll just lay down on a couch and you can drive me home after you're done alright?"

He nodded.

She smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

><p>Syaoran sent the document off and leaned back into his seat, stretching. After a few seconds, he grabbed his keys and walked out of his office.<p>

"Sakura, I'm done. We can lea—" He stopped speaking as he saw the scene. She was lying on the couch, sleeping cutely.

He stifled his chuckle at catching her sleeping for the second time that week. Once again, he shrugged off his suit and covered her. She shifted, waking.

"Shh," he said soothingly. "Go back to sleep."

Groggily, she listened to him and closed her eyes. Syaoran went to his office and created a "do not disturb" sign again. When he placed it outside of the door, he realized that she hadn't locked it. Perhaps his little secretary was becoming more trusting of him… or just had forgotten because of her pain. He turned off the lights, silenced the phone, and shut the blinds.

When Sakura woke up, it was really dark. She was warm and surrounded by a clean, masculine scent. Blinking, she realized that she was still in the office and that she was covered by Syaoran's suit, again. It smelt really nice and, unconsciously, she brought it closer to her nose. Then she wondered what time it was. Using the light that came from Syaoran's office to see, she glanced up at the clock. Her eyes widened. "Crap!" She quickly walked to Syaoran's office and opened the door.

He looked up from his computer. "Awake?"

She blushed and nodded. "Yeah. What are you still doing here? Your shift has already ended."

"I couldn't just leave you here by yourself."

She sank back against his door. "You should have woken me up." Despite her statement, her tone conveyed that she was grateful.

He let a smirk form. "And missed out on staring at your cute, sleeping face?"

Sakura's eyebrows rose.

A small chuckle escaped his mouth at her expression. "I'm just kidding, although you are cute when you sleep."

Her face grew redder. She walked forward and handed him his suit. "Thanks, again. I really owe you one."

He took his suit, keeping eye contact with her. "I'll keep that in mind whenever I need a favor. Are you feeling better?"

Sakura nodded. "Much better. I'm not in pain anymore, thankfully."

He smiled lightly. "I'm glad to hear that. Do you feel well enough to drive?"

Sakura nodded. Her eyes suddenly widened as her body tensed. "Oh no! I forgot to input the statistics!"

In response, Syaoran lifted up a familiar agenda notebook from his desk. "I've taken the liberty of finishing what you needed to do for the day."

Sakura's mouth dropped. "You did?" she asked disbelievingly.

He smirked. "Yeah, I did."

"Give me a second to comprehend that."

He chuckled. "Granted I may not be the best or most dedicated worker but is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yes."

He smiled at her bluntness. "I'm always willing to help out a friend who's in need."

They were friends? Well, she supposed that they had developed a small friendship over time. "I don't know how to thank you," she said softly.

He winked. "Being my entertainment is enough of a repayment."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> As usual, please let me know if there are any grammatical errors and remember to review! More reviews equates to a happier author. ;)

Big, big thanks to **animechick132** for reviewing all the previous chapters!

Thank you for the critique that I got last chapter! And thanks to the people who have placed this story on their alert and favorite list!

Special thanks to the reviewers!:

**Reader; Neco-chan; Yume; kram32; animechick132; ceesy5; hannahchuu; Cesia14; WiND G0dd3ss xD; Sari-Natsuki; deadflo; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; purplemoon; The Shadowless Nuance; lightladybug; icy; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; Adelita P.M; JTiow19; puasluoma; psycho-pyro-shrink; mochiusagi; jdcocoagirl; ohsobrilliant; Miss No-Eyebrows; shesonfire96; humbleblossom**

I would love to see this list expand. ;p


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>She pushed the metal cart down an isle of the store and scanned the shelves quickly, stopping once in a while to grab an item she needed. She turned down to another isle and grabbed a box of cereal off the shelf.<p>

"Sakura?"

She turned around as she heard her name. "Mr. Li? What are you doing here at three in the morning?" she asked, flabbergasted.

"I could ask you the same thing."

She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep and I figured I'd be productive. You?"

"I don't have any food in my house right now and I got hungry."

She giggled. "The high and mighty Syaoran Li is out in the middle of night shopping for grocery because his house has no food. I'd never thought that I would see the day."

He spoke playfully. "I'll get you back for the comment."

She gave him a smirk, one that rivaled his, and spoke. "I'd like to see you try."

"I'll take that as a challenge."

"Do what you will with it." She looked down at his hands. "Just a box of cereal and milk?"

He nodded. "Wei usually helps stock my fridge. He's been sick for the last few days and hasn't stopped by to help."

"You have a person that stocks your fridge?" Sakura asked, flabbergasted.

"Kind of. He's taken care of me ever since I was young and just likes doing small, odd jobs for me. He's a family friend."

"Oh, gotcha. Well, I'm going to get back to shopping." She motioned to her cart. "It was a nice surprise seeing you."

"I'll come with you."

Sakura sent him a puzzled expression. "What?"

He clarified. "I'll come shopping with you. I don't have anything else to do."

Her lips titled upwards into a small, amused smile. "How about sleep?"

"I far prefer your company over sleep," he said, winking at her.

She sent him a suspicious look. "You have your charms turned on tonight. Is there an important meeting tomorrow that I don't know about?"

Trust her to assume that he was only charming when he needed to impress business clients… "I'm wounded by the fact that you don't think I'm always charismatic."

She laughed. "I don't mind the company. You can stick your stuff in my cart instead of lugging it around."

Syaoran did so and he accompanied Sakura around the grocery store. She admitted that he came in handy when she had to reach for something on the very top shelf and had trouble reaching it. He always teased her for her shortness as he easily grabbed the item off the top shelf. She would proceed to stick out her tongue at him childishly. When they got to the register, they were still talking and didn't notice when the lady swiped Syaoran's cereal and milk onto Sakura's account.

Sakura paid for her items and pushed her cart away. Syaoran followed. Although he noticed that his items were in her cart and that she had paid for him, he faked ignorance, curious to see how she would react when she realized that she took all his items home. He offered to help place her items in the car and proceeded to drive home with his hands empty. He held a small smirk the whole ride home while imaging her reactions.

When Sakura began placing the items in the fridge, she noticed that she held two gallons of milk. She paused for a second, not remember grabbing two. She supposed that she might have gotten distracted while talking to Syaoran and took two instead of one. When she went to empty the last bag, she noticed the box of cereal that was most definitely not hers. In fact, she was pretty sure that it was Syaoran's. Oops.

She looked at the time. It was late and she decided that she would return everything to him in the morning. She proceeded to prepare for bed but felt the guilt consuming her. What if he was starving in his house right now? He said he had nothing to eat and it _was_ her fault that she took his items home. It'd be unfair for him to have to run all the way back to the grocery store because of her mistake. Sighing, she redressed in her street clothes and slipped on her shoes. She searched through her purse and found the paper Yelan had given her. She tried both his house and cell phone number but no one answered. She started the car and began driving to his house, hoping that he was just too tired to leave to the grocery store and stayed at home.

She pulled up into a wealthy neighborhood and drove to a white, large house. Grabbing the cereal and milk, she walked up to his front door and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, she rang again. The door opened, revealing Syaoran Li. His eyes were wide in surprise as he looked at her. "How'd you find my house?"

"Yelan gave me your address." She passed him the cereal and milk. "I accidentally took your stuff. I'm really, really sorry. You must be starving by now."

It was silent for a few moments.

And then her boss began laughing loudly, clutching his stomach as he leaned against the doorframe for support. She stared wide eyed at his sudden actions. "Uh… Mr. Li?"

He didn't reply and continued to laugh, his body shaking slightly as his eyes were closed in mirth. He shifted so that his forearm rested on the doorframe, and his forehead rested on his forearm. It took him a good minute before his laughs began to subside. "Of all the things I expected, seeing you on my front steps to return my cereal and milk were definitely not one of them. You are one of the most unpredictable people I have ever met." He grinned. "Come on in."

She was perplexed at his sudden laughter, but replied calmly. "Oh, I was just going to return these and go home."

"I haven't paid you yet." There was still a large grin on his face.

She shook her head. "Oh, it's fine. You don't have to."

"No I insist." He opened his door wider. "As thanks for bringing it to me."

"It was my fault in the first place," she protested.

He smiled. "Just come in. I won't bite. Not this time at least." He gave her a salacious grin.

She wasn't sure what to make of his comment.

"You owe me for making me starve."

She relented. "Alright."

He smiled and walked into the kitchen with her to put everything away. When Sakura placed the milk into his refrigerator, she realized that he really wasn't exaggerating. It was completely empty.

"Wei's wife came over with him the last time and she went on a cleaning spree and threw out anything slightly old," he explained.

"Do you plan on living on cereal and milk for the next few days?"

"I dunno. Do you plan on feeding me?"

She gave him an exasperated look. "You can't seriously be planning on eating cereal and milk for dinner everyday until Wei comes, whenever that is. You should at least go and eat at a restaurant or go back to the grocery store to get more items. Cereal and milk aren't filling. Why didn't you buy more at the grocery today?"

He decided not to mention that Wei was coming tomorrow with grocery. "It's too bothersome to buy groceries and I don't want to go to a restaurant and wait in line."

Syaoran was a completely unpredictable and sly man. Sakura couldn't tell if he was being serious or not about eating only cereal and milk. She glanced at her watch. "I should go. It's really late and both of us are working tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Can I offer you cereal and milk before you go?"

"No thanks. I wouldn't want to deplete your source of dinner."

He grinned.

* * *

><p>Sakura knocked and stepped into his office. "Hey, it's the end of our shift."<p>

Syaoran looked up from the magazine that he was reading and glanced at the clock on the wall. "It is." He swung his feet down from his desk and placed the magazine in one of the drawers.

Sakura placed a plastic bag on his table. "Take this home with you."

He looked curiously at her. "What's that?"

"Food. I decided last night that a starving boss means that less work is going to be done, which means that my job would be more difficult. I've stored the food into containers. Just take the food out and place them on microwavable plates when you want to heat them. Or you could heat it on a stove too."

He chuckled. "I've never had a secretary cook for me before. Thanks."

"Let me know when Wei fills your fridge again."

"If I feel like telling you. Oh yeah, here." He pushed money towards her. "You paid for my milk and cereal last night."

She pushed the money back. "Oh it's alright. It was my fault anyways."

He pushed the money back towards her. "I insist that you take it."

Seeing that he wouldn't budge on it, she took the money. "Alright. Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave him a smile.

"Bye Miss Secretary."

* * *

><p>That night, he happily ate the food that she cooked. It was delicious and he let an amused smile flit onto his face as he thought of his secretary.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> Although this chapter is short, it helps set the foundation for a few of the events in the future and helps to progress their relationship. The next chapter is longer. Remember to review! :) I can't stress that enough! Reviews= an encouraged author= a happier author= more incentive to update

:D

A big thank you to **psycho-pyro-shrink** for mentioning that suits and tuxes are different! I was able to go and fix the mistakes last chapter.

Also, a big thank you to **lhaine07** for reviewing all 7 chapters and a big thank you to **iAMyunisu** for reviewing both chapter 6 and 7!

And a big thank you to all those reviewers who have reviewed every chapter so far!

As usual, thanks to the readers, the people who have placed this on their alert list, and those who have placed this story on their favorites list!

Special thanks to the reviewers!:

**psycho-pyro-shrink; sunny smiles; ceesy5; Yume; icy; Cesia14; Miss No-Eyebrows; mochiusagi; vedha; puppet12; Mishrav Mikura; kram32; deadflo; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; puasluoma; Sake's Evil22; ohsobrilliant; lhaine07; Anon; purplemoon; KawiiKoneko; humbleblossom; EchizenRyoma; animechick132; WaterPanda; Elizabeth; LadyMidnightGuardian; newgirlincity; iAMyunisu; LianxLoki; reader; iloveapplejuice**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>She glanced at the time. He was really late. Ever since she bought him the alarm clock, he was pretty diligent about arriving, at most, an hour and a half tardy. It was now bordering on three hours. Worried, she called his house phone. No one answered and she went on to call his cell phone. He didn't answer that either. She notified Yelan and locked the office, driving to his house.<p>

It took one minute of ringing the doorbell before a groggy Syaoran Li answered the door. She raised an eyebrow at his wild hair and at his lopsided, white shirt. The bottom button was secured in the second to last hole, which caused the incorrect pattern to repeat up his shirt.

"Sakura?" he asked puzzled. "What are you doing here?" he mumbled.

"You're three hours late to work."

He paused for a second. "Oh. Sorry." Sleepily, he walked back into his house and slightly stumbled on the way.

Her eyes widened. "Hey, wait. Are you alright?"

He mumbled. "Yeah, come in."

She stepped into his house and sat on a couch as she waited for him to get ready. A half an hour later, the house was still silent. She went upstairs to check on him. "Mr. Li?" she called out. Walking down the hall, she saw him leaning against the bathroom doorframe with his eyes tightly shut. "Mr. Li, are you alright?" He was breathing more heavily than usual, his chest quickly rising and falling. She placed her hand on his arm and felt his burning skin through his shirt. "Are you sick?"

He didn't reply and merely kept his eyes closed. She went into his bathroom and searched through the cabinet for a thermometer. When she found one, she ordered him to open his mouth and popped it in. When it beeped, she took it out.

"You have a high fever," she announced. "I'll call your mother so go back to bed."

He moved but slightly stumbled again. She placed his arm over her shoulder and he leaned on her as she helped him to his room.

"Do you want me to call a doctor? Or bring you to one?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No. I think I just caught what Wei has. I'm sure I'll be fine soon."

She took his word for it and helped him lie down onto the bed. He shivered slightly and she tucked him in, pulling the comforter up beneath his chin.

"Thanks," he murmured.

She went to leave the room to call Yelan.

"Don't go," he suddenly said.

"I'll be right back." She stepped outside of the room and dialed Yelan's number, who proceeded to tell her that she would have someone take over his work for the day.

"If you want, I can do the paperwork for him," Sakura offered. "I've been with him through all this meetings and I have a pretty good idea of where he stores which documents."

"No, it's fine. Take the day off. You deserve it."

"Thank you."

They each said their farewells and Sakura stepped back into the room to check on her boss.

As soon as he spotted her, he spoke petulantly. "I feel miserable."

Sakura held back her smile at his childish mood. "I'll buy you some medicine."

"Don't leave," he whispered again.

"You're acting like a child." And it was the truth. He had let down his guard completely and whatever he felt was clearly expressed in his facial expressions. It was completely unlike her sly boss who always seemed to have everything under control. She reasoned that he was probably delirious from his fevered state and would probably be acting odder than usual.

He rolled over onto his back and looked up to the ceiling. "Is this what being a child feels like?"

Her heart lurched at his unguarded, bitter smile and she decided to stay. "Alright, do you have any medicine in the house?"

He nodded, told her its location, and then she went to grab it. After finding the needed pills, she grabbed a glass of water and headed back to his room. "Take these," she commanded. He sat up weakly and she assisted him, placing one arm behind his back to support him. He placed the pills in his mouth and swallowed with the water she brought.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"You're welcome." She placed the glass of water on the small table next to his bed and she smiled when she saw her alarm clock there. Slowly, she helped Syaoran lie back into the bed and she pulled the soft comforter up to his chin.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Are you thirsty?"

He shook his head again.

"Go to sleep," she said softly.

"Read me a story." He attempted his trademark smirk but it came out softer and more childlike than usual.

It was cute… but she would never tell him that.

"Alright." She then began telling a short fairy tale that her mother had read to her when she was a child. Slowly, his eyelids began to droop. His breathing became less laborious and the tension on his face faded. He fell asleep when she was three quarters of the way through the story. Sakura finished the rest of it in a soft voice and then stood up from his bed. Right when she moved away from the bed, he shifted and his eyebrows furrowed.

She sat back down and he relaxed.

Hmm… Curious. She got up again and his eyebrows furrowed.

Weird.

She sat down again and the tension ran away from his face.

It was as if he had a detector that told him whenever she was about to leave. Resigned, she made herself comfortable on the side of the bed and took out a book she had in her purse. She began to read.

A half an hour later, she heard her name in a scratchy voice. "Sakura?"

She looked down at her sick boss. "Yeah?"

He gave her an innocent smile. "You're still here," he said in wonder.

She nodded. "I'm still here." What would he think if she told him how much of a cute little child he resembled when he was sick? No doubt he would vehemently deny it and boast of his manliness.

"I'm hot."

Her lips quirked into a smile as she mused about the different connotation that statement would have had if it were the normal Syaoran Li stating it. She placed the back of her hand on his forehead.

He reached up with his hands and held hers there. "Your hand feels really good."

She started to move. "I'll get you a cool towel."

Syaoran stopped her and he slightly tightened his grip on her hand. "Wait. Just stay like this for a while."

"Why?"

He didn't reply.

"Mr. Li, a wet, cold towel will feel much better than my hand."

"Why do you call me that?" he asked.

She sent him a puzzled look. "You mean why I call you 'Mr. Li?'"

"Yeah."

He must have been much more delirious than what she had thought. "Because you're my boss and it's respectful."

"I hate it."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly at his sudden comment. "What?"

"I hate it when you call me Mr. Li."

She was flabbergasted. "Why?"

"Because it reminds me of my father."

She had a feeling that she shouldn't ask any further as he probably would never tell her any of this if he was actually fully conscious of his actions. Her curiosity was piqued though and she asked, "Do you hate him?"

"No. I just don't want to be like him."

She sighed and used her other hand to smooth down his hair. "I call you Mr. Li because that's who you are in my eyes. I don't think of your father when I call you that and I'm sure that you aren't like him. If it makes you feel better, I'll call you Syaoran from now on."

He nodded his head.

"I'm going to go to your bathroom and grab a wet towel. I'll be right back, alright?"

He nodded again.

When she came back, she placed the cold towel on his forehead and watched as he smiled in delight. "It's nice and cold," he murmured.

Sakura smiled. "I know."

Syaoran grabbed her hands and placed them around his neck. "Your hands are nice and cold too."

"They aren't cold. You're just overly warm." Sakura allowed him to keep her hands there as it seemed to ease his discomfort. She shifted one of her hands so it rested on the back of his neck where it seemed to be really hot.

"I've never had anyone take care of me like this. Thank you. You're an odd, but nice, secretary, Sakura." He smiled.

"You're welcome." After a few minutes, she removed her hands from his neck. He protested but she shushed him. She grabbed the water off the table and helped him sit up. "Drink," she commanded. "Your body needs a lot of fluids."

He listened and finished off the glass of water. She went down into the kitchen to refill the water and went upstairs to the bathroom to grab him a new, wet towel to replace the warm one on his head.

Once again, after the towel was placed on his forehead, he grabbed her hands. This time, he placed them on his smooth cheeks. He sighed in bliss. "I feel better."

She couldn't help but giggle. "That's good."

He soon fell asleep and Sakura stood up to place the towels back into the bathroom. He shifted and tensed when she moved.

Lifting an eyebrow, she sat back down and a content smile flitted onto his face.

She didn't know what to make of his actions. Regardless, the towels needed to be placed in the bathroom so she stood up again. When she came back, he was awake.

"How are you doing this?"

He was bewildered. "How am I doing what?"

She placed her hands on her hips. "For some reason, you seem to know whenever I'm about to leave the room."

He gave one of his small, cute smirks. "Maybe I just have a Sakura detector."

She sat down on the corner of his bed. "Pretend I never asked."

Syaoran scooted over on the bed and patted the empty space next to him. "Come sit here."

"I'm fine where I am."

He pouted like a child and for some reason, Sakura felt compelled to move. She shifted closer and swung her legs onto the bed, leading her back against the headboard. She yelped as he snuggled into her side. "Mr. Li! I mean Syaoran! What are you doing?"

He ignored her and closed his eyes to sleep.

There was something about his childlike actions that day that made it difficult to deny him. She sighed and picked up the book she had and began reading again.

When he awoke, he was complaining of hunger and she went downstairs to the kitchen. When she opened the refrigerator, she saw that it was fully stocked. Her boss apparently didn't feel like telling her that Wei had came by.

He had demanded eggs and chicken noodle soup. He didn't have any chicken in his fridge but did have a can of chicken noodle soup on the counter. She located the can opener and poured the soup into a pot and began warming it. Heading back to the refrigerator, she grabbed ham, tomatoes, and bell peppers. After finding the cutting board and knife, she sliced the items will skill and placed them on a plate. While she heated the frying pan, she took out three eggs and cracked them into a bowl, quickly mixing them. Once satisfied, she poured in a bit of milk into the eggs and sprinkled a bit of pepper and salt. Placing that on the side, she found the olive oil and poured a little into the pan. When she deemed it ready, she poured the eggs in. The yellow goo began to solidify. Soon, she was able to add the chopped ingredients.

When the omelet and soup were ready, she transferred them into a plate and bowl, respectively. She found a nifty, wooden tray and used it to bring the food up to his room. When she got there, she cleared a place on his bedside table and placed the tray down. Then she helped him sit up in bed. She placed a fluffy pillow behind his body to cushion him and then transferred the plate onto his lap.

He looked at her. "Feed me."

"No."

"Please?"

"You can eat by yourself."

He pouted. "But I'm sick."

"I know. That doesn't mean that you can't feed yourself."

His bottom lip trembled and his eyes widened innocently. "But I've never had someone feed me before when I was sick. My parents always worked and the maids didn't really do much beyond giving me medicine and food. No one truly cared for me."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. He was just as manipulating when he was sick with his pouts and guilt trips. That one aspect of him hadn't changed.

He continued to convince her by tugging at her heartstrings and she relented, albeit a bit reluctantly. "Fine." She scooted onto the bed and picked up the spoon and bowl, bringing them closer to his face. She scooped the spoon into the soup and then held it to his mouth. He swallowed it with a smile. She continued to feed him until every last bit of the soup and omelet were finished and he smiled in satisfaction.

"I'll be back." Placing everything on the tray, she brought the dishes downstairs and quickly washed them. She refilled the glass of water and headed back upstairs. He was pouting… again.

"I'm sticky," he complained.

She didn't know how to reply.

"I want to take a shower."

"Then go take one."

"Help me."

That was where Sakura drew the line. "Absolutely not."

Her boss smirked. "At least help me undress."

"No way."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> What do you think of this chapter? Please leave a review/critique! :D :D :D I've been getting comments that the chapters are a bit short (and they are shorter than the ones in my previous stories.) Anyways, would you guys prefer having quicker updates and shorter chapters or longer chapters and longer updates? Please let me know! :)

Thank you for those who have left critiques, by the way! I'm keeping your comments in mind and will try to improve.

As always, thank you to the readers and to those who have placed this on their favorites/alert list.

And special thanks to the reviewers! (especially those who have rewritten long reviews):

**vedha; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; ceesy5; Mishrav Mikura; puasluoma; humbleblossom; kram32; Miss No-Eyebrows; Silverarte; kat; Cesia14; wingedangel791; ohsobrilliant; animechick132; mochiusagi; lightladybug; psycho-pyro-shrink; lhaine07; newgirlincity; purplemonster27; LunaxXmoongoddessXx; reader; jdcocoagirl; EchizenRyoma; LianxLoki; Yume; iAMyunisu; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; StarlitFire; SeafoamMist; Dandy352; GrossGirl18; JTiow19; hikaru**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** A reply to **Dandy352**: Unfortunately, I have no idea who started the trend with Syaoran being the rich and hot guy, but I think it's a pretty neat interpretation hahaha. Thanks for the review! :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>When her boss finished his shower, he stumbled back into the room and flopped onto the bed, face down.<p>

Sakura looked up from her book. "Your hair is soaked. Go blow dry it."

He mumbled into his pillow. "I'm too tired."

She sighed. "Where is your blow dryer?"

She deciphered his muffled mumblings and went to retrieve it. When she got back to the room, she plugged it in and commanded him to sit upright so she could dry his hair. He sat up and she turned it on. As the loud noise filled the room, she ran her free hand through his hair to make sure that the blow dryer was able to fully dry it.

His hair was soft.

The strands were healthy and silky and she couldn't help but admire it. She was easily able to run her hands through his untangled hair and it was even softer when it was dried.

"You have nice hair," she said after she replaced the hairdryer and had settled Syaoran back into bed.

Syaoran peeked out from under his blankets. "Thanks." He scooted over and patted the empty space next to him. "Sit here."

She let out a small laugh and acquiesced. He handed her a remote and pointed to the TV across from his bed. "Flip to whatever channel you want."

"Thanks. Will the sound bother you though?"

"I'll probably be too tired to let it keep me awake. Besides," he gave her a cheeky grin, "I can't have my secretary become bored and cause her to run out on me."

She heard his request in the last statement and smoothed his hair down comfortingly. "I won't leave you."

Satisfied, he scooted closer to her. She amused herself with the television.

When she looked down a few seconds later, she saw that he was breathing in deeply. "Are you alright?"

"You smell nice. What do you use?"

"I do?" Sakura sniffed herself.

He chuckled. "You do. Tell me another story before I go to bed."

She humored him and began telling him another tale she heard as a little girl. Halfway through the story, he fell asleep. She turned down the volume of the TV and relaxed.

An hour later, when she glanced at the clock, she realized that it was late. He had only eaten one meal that day and she decided to go downstairs to prepare another one before she had to go back home. When she stood up, he stirred but didn't wake. Quietly, she snuck down into the large kitchen and began rummaging through his refrigerator to see what she could make. When she was halfway finished with cooking, he stumbled downstairs. "What are you doing?"

"Cooking."

He plopped himself down on a chair and watched her as she finished cooking the food.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked as she placed the plates of steaming food in front of him.

"Yeah. I'm not burning up or feeling cold anymore."

"That's good. Are you hungry then?"

He gave her a wolfish smile. "Starving. Feed me."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"But I'm sick."

"Here we go again," she mumbled under her breath.

* * *

><p>"You know, you're acting awfully distant for a woman who just spent the full day in my bed yesterday," purred Syaoran.<p>

The two were given scandalized looks but they were too wrapped up in their conversation to notice.

"I'm not being distant just because I refuse to tie you up! You're a big boy!" defended Sakura.

The grey haired elder lost his composure as the two continued.

"I'm going to leave," he taunted.

"No you aren't. You're going to be a responsible adult and function without needing me to force you to."

Syaoran fully faced her as he placed one hand on the desk in front of her and the other on the back of her chair. "But I liked being forced. It makes everything more exciting," he said in a silky tone.

The elder man's face grew red.

Tomoyo hid her mischievous smile as she witnessed the scene. She looked up to the ceiling, searching for the security camera. Even if she had to bribe them with large sums of money, she would get her hands on the recording of the misleading, innuendo filled scene.

Sakura realized that many of people in the room were sending them odd looks. She leaned over to her left where Tomoyo sat. "What?" she whispered to her friend.

Tomoyo cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow. "I gathered that you spent a whole day in his bed, he likes being tied up, and he can't properly function if you don't force him because he doesn't get excited if you don't."

Sakura stared blankly at Tomoyo before she finally connected the dots. Her face became the color of a flaming hot pepper. "That's not what we meant!" she hastily said. She turned back to Syaoran and slapped him on the shoulder. "And you! I bet you purposely made it sound misleading!"

He was bent over in his seat, his body shaking due to the laughter.

She poked him. "Syaoran Li!"

He continued to laugh silently. When he couldn't hold it in anymore, he sat upright in his chair with his head thrown back and his loud laughter filling the room.

Seeing his unrestrained laughter made her see humor in the situation. However, she pushed down her smile and began lecturing him. "We are in a meeting. Calm down!"

She looked around to see the other members in the meeting lightly chuckling along with him.

Syaoran, still laughing, suddenly held her cheeks. "You're so red!"

She growled at him. "Bite me."

He leaned forward to do so, causing her eyes to widen as she leaned backwards quickly. "I'm just kidding! Just kidding!" she hastily protested.

He retreated and bent over the desk, continuing to laugh until he was clutching his stomach from the pain.

Despite Yelan's best efforts, she couldn't prevent her own laughter and attempted to cover it with a cough.

Sakura looked at the others in the room and quickly squealed out an apology for being so unprofessional while urging her boss to do the same.

When he _finally_ regained himself from the laughter, he gave her a silly grin. "As repayment for the entertainment, I'll stay for the whole meeting." He cleared his throat and faced the room. "I apologize on behalf of the Li Company for the distraction but I'm sure that it was a nice break." He slightly winced as Sakura stomped on his foot. "I'd like to get back on track now. Please continue Ms. Daidouji. I'm extremely interested in why you believe Mr. Lee's plan will be the best course of action."

"Of course," she said with twinkles in her eyes. The meeting resumed.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Please review! (Only 30%-ish of the people who have placed this story on alert leave a review!) And if this encourages you to review, (*hint, hint, wink, wink*) I usually wait until I hit a certain amount of reviews before I update. :P

I realize that this is an incredibly short chapter, but I think it's a cute scene. (And I didn't combine it with the next chapter because the moods are really different.) As this is short, I might debate about uploading the next one earlier.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the lighthearted moments in this chapter! :)

As always, thank you to the readers, and the people who have placed this on their alert and favorite list.

Special thank to the reviewers!

**TVfreak7; hikaru; xosunshinegirlxo; Cesia14; SeafoamMist; LunaxXmoongoddessXx; ceesy5; Dandy352; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; reader; kram32; mochiusagi; WaterPanda; LadyMidnightGuardian; lhaine07; hannahchuu; wingedangel791; puasluoma; animechick132; psycho-pyro-shrink; Miss No-Eyebrows; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; Cherry Wolf-Hanyou; GrossGirl18; L.C. Li; lala; iAMyunisu; chocobo16; AmutoSakuran1621; ohsobrilliant; kawaii6; Miha Ruu-Kun; moogle31; wisteria13**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>Syaoran stared at his watch. Where was his secretary? While he was on time for the meeting, she was late. Everything was flipped backwards.<p>

"Mr. Li?"

He turned around and spotted a blue haired man. "Ah, Mr. Hiiragizawa. How have you been?"

The man smiled. "I've been well. How about you?"

"Fantastic," Syaoran replied distractedly, glancing back down at his expensive, silver watch.

"How have you been treating my secretary?" Eriol inquired.

Syaoran looked at the man. "Oh you mean Sakura, _my _secretary? I've been treating her well."

The man smirked. "That's great to hear."

Syaoran was getting worried. Where was she? "Please excuse me," he said to Eriol before he walked away and made a phone call to his mother.

"Syaoran?" inquired Yelan.

"How do I get in contact with Sakura? She's never late to meetings but she is right now."

"Oh yes, I forgot. She attempted to call you this morning but no one answered. She said that she had an emergency and wouldn't be able to show up to work. I'm assuming that you didn't pick up because you didn't realize that it was her number."

"Emergency?" asked Syaoran, his tone slightly frantic. "What kind of emergency?"

"She didn't mention."

"How do I contact her?" Yelan gave him her number and after he hung up, he quickly called her.

He was sent to her voicemail. He tried again, and again, becoming more and more concerned when he couldn't reach her. On the fifth call, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

He knew by the tone of her voice that something was wrong. "Sakura? Where are you?"

She was silent for a moment. "Didn't Yelan tell you?"

"She said you had an emergency."

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

A quiet quavering sigh was heard. "Listen Syaoran, can I call you back later?"

"Sakura, what's going on?"

She paused, then whispered tiredly. "My father's in the hospital."

His eyes widened. "Where are you at?" After hearing her answer, he gave all of his documents to a bewildered co-worker. "Emergency. I have to go," he quickly told him. "Cover for me." He rushed off to his car and slid in, heading to the hospital. After parking, he swiftly strode into the ER waiting room where he found Sakura curled in a seat in the corner. He walked over to her.

She looked up when she felt someone looming over her. "Syaoran?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

He sat down next to her and wiped her tears away. "Hey," he softly said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"How's your father?"

She sniffled. "He'll be okay. I'm just really shocked and shaken. I just… I didn't expect it. It was too sudden." She began blabbering.

He noticed her red rimmed, watery eyes and her slightly quivering body. Without another thought, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.

She collapsed and tightly wrapped her arms around him, gripping the back of his suit, causing it to wrinkle in her hands. A pained sob and fresh tears were released. He sat there comfortingly, tucking her head under his.

She let herself be soothed in the warm, protective embrace that enveloped her small frame. She didn't notice when she fell asleep, but he did and he shifted her slightly to make her more comfortable.

When she woke up again, she was on the couch in the living of her small apartment. She sat up in a panic. "Dad—"

"I'm fine."

Sakura's eyes watered as she saw her father and she ran over to him to give him a hug. "You scared me," she whispered.

Her father smoothed her hair. "I'm all better now. I'll tell you exactly what happened later. Right now, I'm curious about the gentleman who carried you home."

Sakura's attention was diverted to her boss. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice filled with gratitude.

He gave her a small grin. "You're welcome. I'm glad to see that everything's alright."

"Oh!" she exclaimed before introducing the two. "This is my father, Fujitaka Kinomoto, and this is my boss, Syaoran Li."

The two shook hands.

"Are you sure that you're fine dad?"

His father gave her a smile. "I'm sure that I'm fine. The doctors told me to get a lot of sleep though so I'm going to head to bed. I've already called Touya and explained everything to him. Why don't you offer Mr. Li a cup of tea?"

"I'll do that."

"Thank you, young man." Fujitaka smiled.

Syaoran returned the smile. "It was my pleasure."

Sakura made sure that her father was situated before heading back to her boss. "Thank you for today. I really, really appreciate it."

He gave her a soft smile. "I'm here anytime you need me."

She returned his smile. "Thanks. Dad said you carried me home?"

"Yea."

"I'm surprised I didn't wake up with all the jostling."

His smile turned roguish. "I'm just that good."

She laughed. "I'll get you a cup of tea. Actually, would you prefer coffee?"

"No, it's alright. I should be leaving now actually. We left your car at the hospital so I'll pick you up tomorrow to get it… Unless you need it today?"

Sakura shook her head. "I think I'll just be staying home today."

"Call me if you need something," he offered.

"Thank you," she said. "I owe you one."

"I'll keep that in mind." He winked.

* * *

><p>"You really ought to thank your boss," said Fujitaka after he took a sip of his hot tea.<p>

Sakura wrapped her hands around her own cup of tea. "I know. I just don't know how. Do you think I should give him something? Or would it be better to just do something for him?"

Her father smiled knowingly. "I'm sure he'll be happy with any sort of repayment you give him."

"You're not helping, dad." Sakura continued to mull.

* * *

><p>"Is your son missing anything? Or is he in any dire need of anything?"<p>

Yelan looked up from her paperwork. "Not that I know of. He usually buys what he needs. Why?"

"He helped me out the other day. I don't know how to repay him."

Yelan smiled. "I'm sure that he'll be happy with anything you give him."

"That's what my dad said."

"Oh?"

* * *

><p>Sakura lifted her hand to the door, about to knock. When her hand was about a few millimeters away from the door, she paused, and pulled her hand away. She sighed as she dropped her hand down back to her side.<p>

"You seem as if you're going through a crisis."

Sakura turned around, her face lighting up. "Tomoyo! You were always good at coming up with ideas. What's a good 'thank you' present?"

Tomoyo blinked blankly at the sudden question. "Uh… it depends on the situation I guess. What are you thanking the person for?"

Sakura explained her dilemma.

At the end of it, Tomoyo was smiling with subtle twinkles in her eyes. "I'm sure he will be happy with anything you offer him."

"Not you too!"

Tomoyo titled her head in confusion. "Pardon me?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'll leave it up to you guys to decide what Sakura does for Syaoran. ;) That said, the number of reviews have increased last chapter so thank you to everyone who left one! :)

I will be busy next week so my update may be delayed.

Thank you to the readers and the people who have placed this story on their favorite/alert list!

As always, a special thank you to my reviewers:

**shesonfire96; ceesy5; xosunshinegirlxo; CCSRonin; psycho-pyro-shrink; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; Cesia14; LunaxXmoongoddessXx; kram32; lhaine07; Miss No-Eyebrows; sillyhappyperson; LulaChan0717; ohsobrilliant; wingedangel791; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; animechick132; yuki; SeafoamMist; JTiow19; iAMyunisu; chuxox; Dandy352; mochiusagi; amelancholicangel; skrt-invisiblereader; amodraj; cupid17; puasluoma; SB1681996; DheKyu; hikaru; GrossGirl18; WiND G0dd3ss xD; TaraRae89; Cindy Medeiros; deadflo; humbleblossom; WildLatin; BerryKitty**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>She pressed the phone to her ear as she waited.<p>

Someone picked up. "Sakura?" the man asked.

She stated sternly, with a slight undertone of worry, "You're extremely late."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Then, he replied. "Didn't mother tell you?"

Sakura was puzzled. "Tell me what?"

He sighed. "I'm going on a personal, emergency trip and I won't be back for a week or two. You're going to work for my mother in the meantime."

Sakura stood up straighter in her chair, her eyebrows furrowing at the news. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It'll just be stressful. Give me a moment." Rustling and small murmurs were heard. She heard him sigh again. "Hey I have to go. Just report to my mom's office."

She bit her lower lip. "Alright. I hope everything goes well."

"Me too. Bye."

"Bye." Still a bit bewildered, Sakura confirmed everything with Yelan before packing what she needed and moving to her new, temporary office.

Once there, Yelan told her what her responsibilities were. "You'll basically be doing what you normally do for Syaoran. I'm going to be busy these next two weeks so you should prepare yourself." She suddenly smirked. "Although I dare say it'll probably be less entertaining without Syaoran to make everything harder for you."

She didn't know how to comment.

The first day of work, she felt odd not having to consistently guard and prepare herself for Syaoran's tricks. The second day, she relaxed and savored it. However, throughout the day, she felt as if something was wrongly missing. On the third day, she began admitting that her job was getting a _tad_ boring without him, not that she would ever say it out loud. On the fourth day, she denied that she missed her boss. On the fifth day, despite Yelan's assurances that Syaoran was fine, she began wondering exactly how he was doing. On the sixth day, her thoughts kept wandering to him. When she went home that night, after plopping into bed, she held her phone in front of her while debating.

She had never called her boss without a reason and didn't want to start now. At the same time, her last conversation with him was short and he sounded a bit frustrated, which was a state she had never seen him in. It led to the conclusion that his situation was overwhelming. He had supported her when she needed it, like when she was in severe pain from cramps and when her father was in the hospital. Maybe he needed the support now? That thought made her decision for her. However, after the phone rang twice, she suddenly hung up, deciding that maybe it wasn't a good idea after all.

She jumped slightly in her bed when her phone began ringing. It was Syaoran. She picked up and hesitatingly answered. "Hello?"

"Sakura?" a rough, sleep filled voice answered. "Did you call?"

Sakura was silent for a moment, not knowing how to reply at first. "Yeah I did. I just wanted to see how everything was going. Oh crap. You were sleeping weren't you? I'm so sorry."

A soft chuckle filled her ears. "It's fine. I'm glad you called."

"I should let you go back to sleep. I'm really sorry for waking you up." Guilt filled her. No doubt he was already stressed and calling him when he was sleeping probably made him feel even more strained.

"I've told you before that I far prefer your company over sleep," he said in an amused tone. "So don't hang up on me again." There was a small pause. "Please."

She laughed at his tone. "How has everything been?" she asked.

"Horrible. Stressful. Detestable. I don't want to be here."

It was the first time he was so blunt and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "What exactly is going on?"

"Family business. I prefer not to go into detail. How have you been? Has it been easier working with mother?" She bet he was smirking right now.

She laughed. "Yeah it has, but it's not as entertaining. I think I've gotten used to your little tendencies."

"I've grown on you, eh?" he asked.

She reluctantly replied, "Somewhat."

"That's music to my ears. Say it again."

"Don't push it."

He chuckled.

Their simple, light, bantering conversation carried on for a half an hour before Sakura felt guilty about keeping him up. They ended the call on a happy note.

She fell asleep, unaware of the small smile gracing her face.

* * *

><p>It was hectic. The company was nearing the deadline and one of the computers had crashed along with all that data and reports that had not been backed up. Phones were consistently ringing in order to retrieve the needed information and fingers were furiously tapping the keyboards in efforts to rewrite the reports.<p>

"Sakura, is the report finished?"

"Almost. I only have one more thing to type."

"Thanks fine. Thank you. Please hand it to me when you're done." Yelan turned her attention away to another worker. "Did you manage to get in contact with Mr. Lee, Tim?"

At two in the morning, Sakura reported back to Yelan, telling her that they needed one more sheet of data for the very last report. "Everyone else is just finishing up the last touches so we should be able to meet the deadline, provided that we can find those numbers to finish the report."

Yelan nodded. "I think Syaoran may have a copy on his computer." Yelan glanced at the clock. "Gather your items. Bring whatever else you need to write the report. We're going to write it at his house and fax it from there. We won't have time otherwise."

Sakura rushed back to her desk and placed everything into a folder before driving off to his house. When she got there, Yelan inserted the key and they stepped in. They began to work.

* * *

><p>Bleary eyed, Sakura began faxing the signed documents at three in the morning. It had been a long and frantic day. She could barely keep her eyes open and her fingers were tired from so much writing and typing. Her brain felt overwhelmed and she just wanted to sleep.<p>

In fact, she didn't realize that she had accidentally taken a small, one minute nap until Yelan had tapped her on the shoulder.

"Sorry," she mumbled before standing up.

"It's fine. I've gotten the confirmation. We met the deadline and everything's on track."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear."

"I've made sure that everyone has safely arrived home but neither of us is in the condition to drive. We're going to sleep at Syaoran's house tonight."

Sakura protested but Yelan stopped her.

"I know that Syaoran won't mind. I'm sure he'd much rather give up his house for a day than letting two exhausted woman accidentally fall asleep behind the wheel."

"That's true."

Yelan nodded. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take the guest room. I'm more accustomed to it."

Sakura nodded sleepily.

They walked up the stairs and while Yelan went towards the guest room, Sakura stood in the hall. The only other room was Syaoran's. Was she supposed sleep there?

Yelan suddenly turned around. "I forgot," she murmured. She stepped inside of Syaoran's room and turned on the lights. Opening his closet, she dug around for a while before finding his smallest shirt and sweatpants. She handed them to Sakura. "These will be much more comfortable to sleep in."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not sure he'll be too happy to find out that I slept in his clothes without asking for his permission."

"He'll survive." She hid her small smirk. "Besides, he won't care if it's you. You two are friends after all." Yelan motioned to the bed. "Go on and sleep, Sakura. Thank you for everything that you've done today."

Sakura smiled. "You're welcome. Goodnight."

"Night."

Yelan shut the door on her way out and Sakura changed out of her clothes and into his. It dwarfed her frame and she felt absolutely silly, though comfortable. She pulled on the strings of the sweatpants, trying to make the waistband smaller. With her eyelids feeling heavy, she slipped into the silky bed and rested her head on the soft, fluffy pillow.

Her body fully relaxed.

She pulled the green comforter up to her chin and inhaled; the subtle scent of his cologne soothed her. She fell asleep without another thought.

* * *

><p>One hour later, Syaoran stumbled into his home and locked the door, his eyelids heavy with sleep. He blindly walked up the stairs and through the hallway, having only the assistance of the moonlight to guide his way. His hand felt across the smooth wall and when he felt the doorknob of his room, he twisted it and entered. He placed his arms out to feel for his bed and when his hands landed on his silk comforter, he slipped in and fell asleep.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Dun dun dun dun…. I'm baaaack! :)

I got less reviews last chapter compared to chapter 10. Noooooo! Wahh! Please remember to drop by a review to encourage your author to update more quickly! :p

As always, thanks to the readers and those who have placed this story on their alert/favorite list!

Special thanks to the reviewers!

**Belle Melodie; Adelita P.M; hikaru; tastelikemints; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; ceesy5; kram32; shesonfire96; psycho-pyro-shrink; animechick132; hadiaz; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; LunaxXmoongoddessXx; SeafoamMist; hannahchuu; cindy; Dandy352; puasluoma; deadflo; lhaine07; jdcocoagirl; mochiusagi; wingedangel791; GrossGirl18; ohsobrilliant; Cesia14; Tvisha; leatwerpenn; konan248; maniikuu; chuxox; Shrizzitania; Terri-LeeMBK; Fashion Fairy 26; emachookie; Ayla27; LadyMidnightGuardian; muDi159; smittendale**


	13. Chapter 13

Special thanks to **Rajshree maharjan 160** who caught two grammatical errors! Despite reviewing the chapters, I often accidentally overlook simple errors so thank you so much! I was able to go back and fix them. :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

* * *

><p>It was an amazing feeling, being surrounded by warm softness and a comforting scent. A protective arm was curled around her, pulling her into a firm bod—"<p>

She froze.

Her eyes opened.

They widened.

All of the grogginess suddenly was washed away.

She screamed.

And then she tumbled onto the floor.

There was a man in her bed!

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Yelan held a mischievous smirk her face as she heard the scream.<p>

* * *

><p>Syaoran woke up, hearing something fall. He dazedly scooted over to the right side of the bed and hazily looked to the floor, trying to find what had dropped. His eyes landed on Sakura. Shaking his head, he rubbed his eyes. Why was he dreaming about her being in his room? Hmm… She looked really cute in his clothes though.<p>

As the person peeked over the bed, Sakura's eyes widened. It was her boss! Last night's events suddenly rushed through her mind and reminded her of where she was. Her face grew red.

As Syaoran became more awake, he realized that it wasn't a dream. His eyes widened. "Sakura?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

She groaned and quickly explained.

He shook his head. "I'm too tired to comprehend. Come back to bed."

She looked at him wide eyed.

"Just kidding." He smirked and ruffled her hair. "You look cute this morning."

Her face grew redder. "Uh… thanks?"

He chuckled and got up from the bed, offering her a hand. She gripped it and he helped her stand. "Let's go greet mother. I thought I had already told her that I was coming home early."

They met Yelan in the hall. It took the woman much effort to keep her expression neutral. Sakura was shocked and red, dwarfed in her borrowed sleepwear while Syaoran was amused and a bit confused. His hair was wild and his clothes were rumpled. They were an adorable pair. She cleared her throat and spoke with a professional tone. "Good morning. What happened here?"

Syaoran spoke. "I thought I sent you a text telling you that I'd be home last night."

"It may have slipped my mind. Sorry for sending Sakura into your room. Regardless, I hope you both slept well." She covered her smile with the back of her hand as she watched Sakura's face grow redder and Syaoran's cheeks take on a slight pink. "Syaoran, don't you have an extra toothbrush that you can give Sakura? As comfortable as your clothes are, and as soft as your bed is, I'm sure she'd like to get ready for work."

The color of Sakura's face became similar to a vibrant, red apple. Syaoran's own face became pinker. Yelan smothered her giggle.

As Yelan walked down the stairs, Syaoran composed himself and turned to Sakura. "You should keep those clothes."

Sakura looked down to analyze what she was wearing. "Why?" she asked, confused.

He gave her a self satisfied, sneaky grin. "You look sexy in them."

All Yelan heard downstairs was a screech of his name and the thud of running feet. She smiled. _"Oh my," she thought._

* * *

><p>Sakura had managed to reduce her blush to only a light pink flush by the time she arrived at work. After sitting back down in her desk, she smiled at its familiarity.<p>

The day had gone by relatively quickly, with little threats made to her boss to force him to do his work. Although she was a little annoyed with how she had to be consistently on guard now, she liked working with him and wouldn't trade him for someone else. As she and Syaoran walked out to their cars at the end of their shift, he slipped a nicely wrapped box into her hands. She gave him a puzzled look. "What is this for?"

He smiled. "It's a present of course."

"Oh okay. Who is it for?"

He chuckled. "You, of course. Why else would I be handing it to you?"

She shrugged. "I'm your secretary. I thought that maybe it was an errand and you wanted me to give it to someone."

They had reached her car and he suddenly trapped her against it by placing one hand on either side of the car. He leaned in closer and spoke in a low tone. "Would you be jealous if I told you that it was a present for another woman?"

Her eyes widened in surprise.

He smirked and backed away. "Don't open it until you're in your house. It's a surprise."

She was completely bewildered at the events that had occurred. "Wait, why are you giving me a present?"

He winked. "Because I wanted to." Her boss walked away and to his car. "Remember, don't open it until you're at home!"

She was wary.

* * *

><p>Despite her curiosity, Sakura listened to him and didn't open it in her car. Now, she was in her room, staring at the green box with the beautiful bow on top. Carefully, she unwrapped the present, revealing a plain white box. She lifted the top and pulled the gift out.<p>

Her laughter echoed around in the room as she held his "present" in front of her. Biting her lower lip, she debated for a few seconds before deciding to call her boss.

"Syaoran?" she asked as someone picked up.

She had no doubt that he had a wolfish smirk on. "Did you open the present yet?"

"I did."

"What do you think of it?" he asked.

She ran her hand across the soft shirt. "I'll have you know that I have plenty of nice sleepwear."

"Oh, I don't doubt it."

Sakura blushed at his insinuating tone. "I'd slap you right now if I could for that comment."

He chuckled. "Keep the clothes."

Her face grew redder and she was glad that he couldn't see her over the phone. She cleared her throat. "Uh… thanks for the present I guess."

"You're very welcome," he said silkily.

A small, amused smile was on her face as she stared at the clothes she wore the night she stayed at his house. "I can't believe you actually gave these to me and disguised them as a present."

"I'm just that awesome." There was a slight pause before he spoke again. "And tsk tsk. Wearing my clothes without my permission. You naughty little girl."

Her face grew red.

"Not that I'm complaining of course. You're free to come over and model my clothes for me any day."

That was the last straw. She was going to go over there and slap him silly for his comments. That is, after she stopped blushing.

* * *

><p><strong>Please read this!<strong> Keep in mind that this is just a story. Just as a warning, please don't go around sleeping with people or acting as Yelan did and sneaking two people into bed without their permission.

**Author's note:** I had an outstanding reply to the last chapter and it encouraged me to continue with the story when I was losing motivation with it, so thank you to all those who reviewed!

Please continue on reviewing to encourage fast updates! :D I do have the next chapter written already… ;)

**Note to nomnom:** At first, I only had a small mention of how cute she looked in his clothes… But then after your comment, I thought it'd be interesting to add more about the clothes. So credits to you for the inspiration! ;) And thank you!

As always thank you to the readers and the people who have placed this on their alert/favorite list!

Special, special thanks to the reviewers!

**Higurashy Kagome; hikaru; Seo Hyunee; mochiusagi; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; MapleDumplings; deadflo; ceesy5; ohsobrilliant; animechick132; xosunshinegirlxo; kram32; smittendale; LulaChan0717; littlepuppyislost; psycho-pyro-shrink; sunny smiles; amulet black rose; leatwerpenn; pikapikaXsakura; jdcocoagirl; TTSis; purplemoon; dancedaze; wingedangel791; newgirlincity; Syao Blossoms; Dandy352; lhaine07; yuki; SeafoamMist; konan248; Sapphiet; Hadiaz; Dearest cherry blossom; SB1681996; QqanimeCRAZYgurlqQ; Cactus; puasluoma; Mangalovers101; Cesia14; Fashion Fairy 26; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; hannahchuu; nomnom; chuxox; muDi159; GrossGirl18; Ifra; shesonfire96; vaioleth; Rajshree maharjan 160; KuronekoXIII**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>Just a few days after Syaoran had given her the gift, Sakura walked into work with a happy smile on her face and a light bounce in her steps. Right after her shift, she headed into the bathroom and changed into a casual, but pretty dress. Looking at her image in the mirror, she released her hair from the chignon she had it in and used a cute headband. She fixed her side bangs, and once satisfied, she walked out and back into the office.<p>

While she was in the bathroom, Syaoran snuck into her office and spun around in her chair. Once she entered, he stopped spinning, looked at her, and whistled. "You look nice. Where are you going?"

"Thanks for the compliment." She smiled and said excitedly, "I'm going to dinner."

"Who are you going to dinner with?"

Sakura picked her purse. "Touya. Did you finish all your work?"

Syaoran frowned at the unfamiliar male name. "Who's Touya?"

The phone suddenly rang and Sakura picked it up. "Yes, he's still here. Do you want me to give the phone to him?" Sakura was silent as she listened to Yelan. "I will tell him that. Thank you. Yes, bye." She turned towards her boss. "Have you finished writing the contract for the Ping Company?"

He shook his head. "No."

"The deadline has been moved up and it's due tomorrow morning. Mrs. Li wants you to get it done tonight."

Syaoran leaned back in the chair and propped his feet on the desk. "Make me."

"Syaoran," she said warningly.

"Who's Touya?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

She was taken aback at the sudden change of subject. "You know what? I'm not going to tell you until you finish the contract."

He shrugged. "Are you planning on locking me in here until it's done?"

She nodded.

"Then be prepared to spend a whole week in here with me. I won't finish it until then."

She raised her eyebrow at his childishness. "Syaoran, I'm going to dinner tonight and taking a break. I haven't been able to see Touya for a while so please get your work done so I can go."

He crossed his arms across his chest. "Tell me who he is."

She shook her head. "Not until you finish that contract."

They were at a standstill as he refused to budge. Sakura sighed and called security. A burly man quickly showed up soon after. Sakura smiled and greeted him. "Hey Tim! Could you stay and watch Syaoran to make sure he doesn't escape? I have to go right now but I'll be back in an hour or two. I'm going to lock the door from the outside and inside but I just wanted you to be here as a precaution. The head security guard and Mrs. Li have the key if something happens. I have to go. Thanks!" she said hurriedly as she sped out the door.

Tim was a burly security guard who stared warningly at Li. "Now, Sakura's a nice girl and I won't have you make her job any harder so you better do what you're supposed to do."

Syaoran scowled at the desk. Exactly how many men did she have under her thumb?

* * *

><p>Sakura walked into the restaurant and up to the front desk with a smile. "Reservation for Kinomoto?"<p>

The lady smiled back. "Ah yes. Please come this way."

When Sakura spotted her brother, she hopped into his arms and gave him a bone crushing hug. "You big meanie! You haven't called at all this past month! Do you know how worried we were about you?"

The man's lips quirked into a smile as he returned her affectionate hug. "I know and I'm sorry."

She pulled away and took a good look at him. "You've gotten thinner. Have you not been eating right?"

He rolled his eyes affectionately. "I'm fine Sakura. I've just been busy but I promise you that I've been eating. How's dad?"

"He's been pretty good recently. How's your job?"

He ruffled her hair and chuckled when she batted his hands away. "I'll tell you about it later. Let's sit down and order first."

She smiled and sat down. "Sounds good."

When the food came, they began eating heartily. Sakura filled him in on the details of her work and Touya wasn't sure what to think of her new, male boss.

"Well, that's enough about me. How's work been for you?" she asked.

His face darkened slightly. "It's been good Sakura, but I need to transfer to Spain for a while. I won't be able to see you or dad for a full year and I'm not sure how often I'll be able to contact you two."

Sakura froze at the sudden news. "When are you transferring?"

"I've already told dad earlier, but I'll be gone tonight, after dinner."

The two were silent as Sakura just stared at her brother. She finally spoke, in a small, saddened voice. "You just came back though."

He sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry."

She looked down at her plate. "Is the job worth it? To be gone from us so often?"

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "As soon as I get the promotion, I won't have to move around anymore and can stay by you guys. Let's just hang on a while more."

"We'll miss you," she whispered.

"I'll miss the two of you too."

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><p>At nine that night, Sakura returned to the office, feeling sullen. Both she and her father had watched Touya leave and no matter how much she wanted to call out for him to stay, she could only watch his back as he walked away. It had been a difficult farewell. He had returned for a day and left again and his next visit wouldn't be for another year.<p>

She slipped the key into the doorknob and twisted. It was calm in her office but when she opened the door to Syaoran's, she saw an irate security guard and a sulking boss.

"What happened here?" she asked, tired.

Neither of them answered.

Her eyes slowly traveled to her boss. "Have you finished the contract Syaoran?"

He didn't answer but the security guard did. "No, he hasn't done anything."

Sakura sighed. "Thank you Tim." She gave him a weak smile. "I'll take it from here so you can leave. I unlocked the door."

The security guard nodded. "Call if you need any of us."

"I will. Thank you."

The door shut, leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone in the office.

"How was your dinner with Touya?" he asked.

"Fine. How's the contract?"

"I didn't do it."

Sakura walked towards him to fully face him. "Why?"

He didn't reply.

She wanted to scream as frustration filled her. Her night had already been horrible with the distressing news about her brother's transfer; she didn't want to deal with an uncooperative boss. "Stand up," she commanded. "Please," she later added in.

He raised his eyebrow.

"Please stand up."

He did so, albeit languidly. It increased her ire, the way he acted as if nothing was wrong with slacking and forcing everyone else to take responsibility for him.

"We need to talk."

"Okay," he said.

"I'm being absolutely serious. Why didn't you start on the contract? You know that it needs to be sent in tomorrow morning."

He shrugged. "I just didn't feel like doing it."

While she was being torn apart from the turmoil inside, he acted as if he didn't have a care in the world. Her stress and sadness were suddenly converted into anger as a bubbling heat filled her body. "There are a lot of things that we don't feel like doing but we have to do anyways. You're being an irresponsible, whiny, selfish brat. There are many, many problems in the world that we all have to deal with and majority of them are worse than sitting down and writing some stupid contract. Honestly, just get it done! You're given this position in the company that so many covet and can't even dream of obtaining. Yet, here you are, taking advantage of your position and not doing anything to deserve it. Do you have any idea of how much trouble you bring others? Your mother had to personally come to my old office, and agree to pay twice my salary just in order to find some way to control you. Grow up!"

The room was silent and Syaoran was frozen in shock at her outburst.

"Go home," she told him, suddenly giving up. "I'll write the contract for you. I know enough of what is going on anyways, and I'll just send it to someone to double check it tomorrow."

He didn't budge.

She took his documents off his desk and began walking towards her office when two arms suddenly came around her body. She was pulled backwards until her back was pressed into his chest. "Let me go."

He didn't budge.

She elbowed him in the stomach but he didn't move. Her rage overtook her again, burning her body and muddling her mind until she was a chaotic mess of emotions. "What do you—"

"Are you alright?" he mumbled into her ear.

The room became silent. His comment was a bucket of frozen ice knocking her on the head. It hurt, more than she cared to admit, and had subdued the burning anger, leaving a cold pain behind. Her only reply was her weakening knees as she wanted to sink down onto the floor. She was so, so drained.

Syaoran supported her though, and she didn't fall. He turned her body around to face his and his heart lurched at her broken expression. "What's wrong?" he asked softly. He placed one hand in the middle of her back to support her and the other gently ran through her hair to soothe her.

She didn't reply and looked to the ground as her eyes began watering.

His warm hands moved to gently cup her face. He tenderly guided her head upwards so that she would look at him. "Sakura?" he inquired.

She broke. Clear, crystal tears fell down her face and onto Syaoran's thumbs. She numbly felt herself being pulled into Syaoran's embrace again and she rested her forehead on his shoulder. Her tears were soaked up by his white, buttoned shirt. One of his hands went to the middle of her back again to support her and to remind her of his presence while the other rested gently on the back of her head. She allowed herself to be comforted and she hoped that the cold pain would be melted by his warm embrace.

* * *

><p>"Here." Syaoran handed her a cup of hot liquid after Sakura had calmed down.<p>

She took a sip and raised her eyebrow. "Hot chocolate? Where did you get it?"

He smiled. "It's a secret. I hear that chocolate is a good comfort food."

She closed her eyes and took a large sip of it. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Are you feeling better?"

She nodded. "I think so. I'm really sorry for ranting and yelling at you. I…" She sighed. "I had a rough night but I know it's not an excuse. I'm really, really sorry."

He gave her a forgiving smile. "It's alright. Just sit here and relax. I'll go write the contract."

* * *

><p>He walked out of his office fifteen minutes after she had finished her drink. "That was quick," she noted.<p>

"Yeah. It doesn't take me long and it's just the first rough draft of many, so it doesn't have to be perfect." He locked his office door and walked towards her.

She stood up from her seat. "As much as I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, I do really want to talk to you about why you keep slacking off. I can't change your attitude towards work unless I know why you have such an aversion to work in the first place."

"There's no particular reason why," he denied. "I just like slacking off."

She quirked a knowing eyebrow. "I'll admit that I thought that at first, but after observing you, I feel that there's a deeper reason why you hate working."

He relented after a few minutes of silence. "Alright. Are you sure you want to have the conversation tonight though?"

She bit her lower lip. "I guess not. But I'd like to have the conversation sometime."

"When do you want to have it then?"

"Sometime soon, preferably."

There was a sudden glimmer in his eye and Sakura didn't know what to make of it. "Is this Friday okay then? At my house after work?" he asked.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why can't we just talk about it here?"

He gave her an impish smile. "If I'm going to be spilling my heart and soul to you, I'd rather do it someplace where I'm comfortable."

She gave him an incredulous look but relented.

"Who's Touya?"

She blinked. "Oh, he's my brother."

He wanted to hit himself for his stupidity.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> They're going to have "the talk." Hahaha, anyways, please remember to review to encourage faster updates! ;p

Thank you to the readers and those who have placed this story on their favorite/alert list!

As always, special, special thanks to the reviewers!

**LunaxXmoongoddessXx; deadflo; psycho-pyro-shrink; Higurashy Kagome; Miss No-Eyebrows; EchizenRyoma; kram32; hikaru; purplemoon; light lady bug; WiND G0dd3ss xD; lhaine07; leatwerpenn; animechick132; emachookie; Fashion Fairy 26; Cesia14; Newgirlincity; KuronekoXIII; xXBluefangXx; konan248; puasluoma; maniikuu; mochiusagi; Cindy Medeiros; ceesy5; xosunshinegirlxo; Dandy352; Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius; wingedangel791; WildLatin; yuki; littlepuppyislost; SB1681996; xSapphirexRosesxFanx; jdcocoagirl; TheBitterNoob; BlossomofShadows; ; humbleblossom; Cactus; nomnom; kuromimi; Sapphiet; Dearest cherry blossom; reader; GrossGirl18; Tvisha; kat; JTiow19; LauraNathi; LadyMidnightGuardian; sexy evil nat; Geyser.L.B; SxSlol; Misunderstandings**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

A shout out to **SxSlol, BlossomofShadows, **and **newgirlincity**: Haha, thanks for the little reminder that it's been two weeks since I've updated. :) It's flattering to know that some of my readers are keeping track. :D

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><p>Sakura drove into the large garage after Syaoran and got out. Was it bad that she was beginning to memorize the route to his house?<p>

Her boss suddenly turned around right before they reached the porch steps and faced her. "I'm hungry."

She was wary. Was it another ploy or trick to get out of talking? "I'm getting the answers out of you today and procrastinating won't deter me."

He smiled. "I know. As repayment for the other time you cooked food for me, I'll cook dinner tonight."

She blinked. That was definitely not something she was expecting him to do. He pushed her into the living room and turned on the TV, telling her to wait and see. Halfway through the show, she admitted that there was a delicious scent wafting from the kitchen and into the living room. Her stomach began growling, and soon, she was brought into the dining room.

Of course, Syaoran's homemade dinner was nothing less than fantastic, much to her surprise. She had always assumed that he had others to cook for him but the flavorful food proved otherwise. Even the way that it was presented was completely appealing and mouthwatering.

Syaoran felt his pride swell at her obvious enjoyment of the food.

When she was finished she leaned back in her chair with a happy smile on her face. "That was delicious. Thank you for the meal."

"Anytime. Let's watch a movie," Syaoran suggested.

She sent him a suspicious look. "Why?"

"You want me to tell you everything tonight and I'll be baring my heart and soul to you. Don't you think you should humor me a bit and let me relax so I can spill?"

She sighed, but relented. "I feel like I'm being taken advantage of. No, scratch that. I_ know_ that I'm being taken advantage of."

"Perhaps." He gave her a mischievous smile. "You're the cute Little Red Riding Hood in the wolf's den." He leaned extremely close to her and whispered silkily in her ear. "If you don't watch out, I might just eat you." Sakura's eyes widened and her face flushed red, inciting a loud chuckle from him. She seemed to be more susceptible to his charm after the incident in his house. He wasn't complaining. "Go chose a movie. I'll get the drinks and popcorn," he said, winking at her.

When he got back, she was sitting in the middle of the loveseat before the TV, her hand on the remote. He picked her up, causing her to squeal and shout his name. He placed her back down towards the side so that he could sit down next to her.

"You could have just asked me to scoot over!" she protested. "And besides, go sit on another couch! I was here first."

"It's called a loveseat. It's designated to seat two people." He sent her a smug smile.

She couldn't argue against his logic. "Just don't forget that you're telling me about—"

"I know, Little Red. Let's sit back and enjoy the movie in the meantime." Setting an example, he leaned back and rested his arms across the top of the loveseat.

She was tempted to throw a piece of popcorn at him. "Don't call me that."

"You're little and your face is red. Why not?"

"How would you like it if I called you the big bad wolf all the time?"

He whispered into her ear. "I think I'd like that. But only if you'll be my Little Red Riding Hood."

She gave in to the temptation and picked up a piece of popcorn, throwing it at his face. To her shock, he caught it in his mouth.

He chewed it, and swallowed. "Mmmm."

Her mouth opened and then closed. A smile flitted onto her face. "Okay, I'll admit it. That was pretty impressive. Good reflexes," she complimented him.

He chuckled and took the remote from her hands, beginning the movie.

She wasn't very absorbed in the movie as she was more worried about getting the needed information from her boss. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye often but his eyes remained glued to the screen.

Finally, he spoke. "I'm glad that you find me hot and sexy." Seeing the puzzled expression on her face, he clarified. "You've been sneaking glances at me since the move started. Not that I mind, of course."

"You egoistic pig."

He laughed. "You wouldn't have me any other way."

His laughter was infectious, causing her to smile. Once the movie was done, she turned to Syaoran, giving him an expecting look. With a grin, he dragged her outside into his car. She complied, realizing that he wouldn't say anything until he wanted to. Everything was under his control and flow.

After she was situated in the passenger seat and he was seated in the driver's seat, he drove out of the garage and opened the sunroof and windows. He tilted his seat backwards so that he was lying down, and then motioned for her to do the same. She went along with him. The car was silent for a while and she began to relax and sink into the soft seat, staring out of the sunroof and up to the black sky. It was adorned with a multitude of twinkling stars and she smiled at the peacefulness of the quiet night.

He began singing. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky."

The content smile on her face suddenly grew wider with amusement. He glanced at her and winked. "Sing along with me," he insisted.

She refused at first but with his whining, she finally acquiesced. They sang together, the lyrical song often filled with their laughter. By the end of it, she felt like a small child again, carefree and flying.

"I always come out here when I'm stressed. It's nice sharing this with someone else."

Sakura turned her head towards him and gave him a soft smile. "Thanks for sharing this with me." She took a deep breath in of the lukewarm, fresh outside air. "It feels amazing. I can see why you come out here."

He looked back up to the sky. "I spent the night of my seventh birthday out here."

Despite the neutral expression he had on, Sakura knew that it was becoming difficult for him. Instinctively, she used her left hand to reach for his right hand. She held it and squeezed.

A little surprised, but grateful, he sent her a smile. When she attempted to retract her hand, he held on. She allowed him to intertwine their fingers and she looked back up to the sky to give him time to sort his thoughts.

He continued. "Are you going to ask why?"

She looked back at him and stared into his deep, guarded amber eyes. She told him the truth. "I want to, but I don't want to push you to tell me anything. As much as I prefer to know about your aversion to work, tonight, I won't force you."

He lifted their interlocked hands up to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand. Her eyes widened and she froze, but then relaxed when she heard his next words.

"Thank you. The real truth isn't as bad as you probably think it is though. You might even think that I'm overreacting."

She waited for him to continue. He didn't disappoint her.

"My father had promised to be back to celebrate my seventh birthday. He hadn't shown up to my birth, or any of my birthdays previously. My mother confronted him one night, and the next day, my father gave me his promise that he would celebrate my seventh birthday with me. I made such a big deal of it, as he had never really paid much attention to me. I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with me, but his promise wiped those worries away."

He paused and she waited patiently as he collected his thoughts. He looked up to the sky and had a faraway expression on his face.

"I really respected him. I thought he was an amazing guy, being the head of such a large company. So many people listened to him and I wanted to be like him when I grew up. He never spent much time with me though, and it made me insecure. He didn't show up to my seventh birthday, despite his promise, and told me that there was a very, very important thing that he had to see overseas. He sent me an overly extravagant birthday present, but left. I didn't see him for more than five minutes that day. It hurt. He gave me hope, and then took it away. And I just kept wondering what I had done wrong to make him ignore me and where I was flawed."

Sakura felt her heart clenching in pain for him and she used her right hand, the one that wasn't holding his, to turn his face towards hers. His face was carefully guarded as always, but his eyes were brimming with pained emotion. The strength of it took her breath away. "Syaoran, you are one of the least flawed people that I have ever met. Not accounting your attitude towards work though."

He smiled and brought his free hand to rest on top of the hand on his face. "I know that now." Neither of them shifted as he spoke again. "It hurt but it wasn't the breaking factor that day. Not only did I respect my dad, I absolutely adored my mom. I thought she was just as amazing, if not more so. She was always under control and so elegant. I felt as if she knew what to say in every situation and she seemed to always have a solution to everything. I never saw her anything less than impeccable. But that afternoon, after the party was over and everyone had left, I went to find her. She was slumped into her bed, sobbing so quietly, but so painfully." He paused. "I cried on the spot."

His right hand gave her left one a quick, gentle squeeze.

"I didn't know how to react. I didn't know what was happening so I ran into the room. After hearing me, she sat up." He paused again, recalling the scene. "Her tears had smeared her make up and her eyes were so red. She didn't say anything and just held me in her arms. She couldn't stop crying."

He closed his eyes at this and Sakura gently stroked his face to comfort him. "What happened next?" she asked softly.

He opened his eyes. "I kept asking, 'Mother, mother, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong? Are you going to start ignoring me like father?'"

Sakura's eyes began misting as she imagined the small, innocent boy who was scared to lose his mother's love.

"She assured me that I was perfect in her eyes and that there was nothing wrong with me. She was crying because father broke his promise. She composed herself a little afterwards and tucked me into bed. I ran out and into the car when she left."

"How did you get in?"

"I took her keys."

She didn't have the will to admonish him. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Don't be," he murmured back. "I think it helped me grow up a bit. I stopped idolizing my father and began to gain more confidence. I told myself that there was something wrong with him, for making mother cry and that there was nothing wrong with me. Years passed, and I never became close to him. He barely celebrated either of our birthdays with us, and never did anything truly special for Valentine's Day, or for their marriage anniversary. I never saw mother cry again, but I have no doubt that she did when she knew I was asleep." He took a deep breath in and let it out. "And that's the reason why I don't like working at the company. I'm afraid that I'll turn out like him, that I'll become so absorbed into work that I'll forget everyone else. Sakura… I can't…" He paused, trying to find the right words. "The image of my mother crying has been burned into my memories. She was in so much pain. I can't do that to her. It would break her."

His neutral façade was precariously in place. It was slowly slipping and she could see how much the event had affected him when he was younger. She suddenly removed her hands, got out of the car, came around to his side, opened the door, and asked him to step out and stand. As soon as he did, she wrapped her arms tightly around him in comfort. "You shouldn't have needed to go through that," she whispered.

He returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her as he sunk against her and rested his forehead against her shoulder.

They stayed there for a while under the quiet, glittering, night sky.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Two weeks-ish since I last updated... Eheheheh… I just haven't been satisfied with the chapter and kept revising it.

As always, remember to review! As I said, more reviews = happier author, especially when she's hit a block in the story.

:D

Thank you to the readers and those who have placed this story on their alert/favorite list!

A special, BIG thanks to the reviewers! (And yes, I read through every single one of those reviews!) :) They make me haaaaaappy!

**konan248****; ****AmutoSakuran1621****; ****ceesy5****; ****light lady bug****; ****amanbu-chan****; ****kram32****; littlepuppyislost; ****EchizenRyoma****; ****WiND G0dd3ss xD****; ****wingedangel791****; ****Fashion Fairy 26****; ****leatwerpenn****; ****kuromimi****; Newgirlincity; ****mochiusagi****; ****ohsobrilliant****; ****GrossGirl18****; ****Cherry Wolf-Hanyou****; ****Miss No-Eyebrows****; fluer d'emeraude; ****Cesia14****; ****Dandy352****; ****smittendale****; ****Aizawa Li Syaoran Vessalius****; ****sunny smiles****; ****WildLatin****; yuki; chuxox; anonym09; ****jdcocoagirl****; ****TunaSFX****; ****psycho-pyro-shrink****; ****anime lover 160****; hikaru; ****Sapphiet****; ****vaioleth****; SxSlol; Art-is-Food; ****puasluoma****; ****animechick132****; ****xSapphirexRosesxFanx****; imonz; ****skrt-invisiblereader****; ****NollasBlack****; ****Emmoria****; ****TheBitterNoob****; ****humbleblossom****; ****Tite Diablesse****; BlossomofShadows; ****SB1681996****; ****Sake's Evil22****; EclairMarie; ****e-yuri****; ****Shrizzitania****; SxSlol; guest; anon; ****KawaiiAmy13****; **** .Cullen****; my dearsters; nomnom; rajshree160**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: **I proofread this in a hurry to get it posted so please let me know if you spot any grammatical errors!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

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><p>She stared down at the clean, white sheet of printer paper, her mind whirling with thoughts. Unconsciously, she furrowed her eyebrows as she zoned out from her surroundings.<p>

Instead of the superficial laziness she originally thought Syaoran had possessed, there was a deeper reasoning to his lack of desire to work. Now that she had gotten to the root of the problem, she had to find some way to assuage his fears and motivate him. She realized that it wouldn't be easy. He had seen his mother cry over his father's deep entanglement in work, and her boss himself had felt the negative side affects of the constant absence. It was a fear that he had grown into because of his childhood. She knew that he would never neglect his friends and family over work, like his father would. However, Syaoran didn't feel the same way and was afraid that he would become entrapped in his work without realizing.

She now would openly admit that she was wrong about saying how his heart was buried deep, deep, deep down inside of him. In fact, she realized that he had the heart of a fluffy, teddy bear.

She wondered how he would react if she told him so.

Pulling herself back onto topic, she kept brainstorming. There were no little tricks, such as tying him to a chair or locking him up this time. It was going to be much more difficult dealing with the deep issue.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as a thumb smoothed out the furrow between her eyebrows.

"Don't think too hard. You might give yourself wrinkles."

Oh if she could hit him across the head for the comment. She resisted though, hearing the slight undertone of concern in his voice. "Hi to you too."

He set down a cup of water on her desk and she thanked him. "What were you thinking of?" he inquired.

She took a sip and sighed in relief as the cool water slid down her throat and into her stomach. "… Just stuff. Nothing to worry about." She fanned herself with her hand. "It's really hot in here though."

He nodded. "I know. Apparently the air conditioner for the building broke down. They're trying to get it fixed. I'm not sure how long it'll take."

"Today's one of the hottest days this week too," she moaned.

He reached a hand over to ruffle her hair. "Tough luck, little secretary."

She supposed it was better than being called, 'Little Red.'

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><p>Sakura felt her blouse sticking to her back due to her sweat. Unable to stand the heat, she knocked on Syaoran's office and stepped in. Her eyebrows rose at his state.<p>

His suit was casually thrown across his desk and his tie was tossed onto the ground. The first few buttons of his white dress shirt were unbuttoned and he was currently fanning himself with a stack of paper.

She shut the door behind her, ignoring the little thought in her head that said that he was looking pretty attractive. "Please button your shirt back up. What if someone walked in and saw you like that?"

He sent her a smirk. "I've taken that into consideration. That's why my shirt is only partly unbuttoned and not completely off."

A slight blush rose onto her cheeks. "Alright. It's hot. I get it. I'll let you off the hook this time. Anyways, do you think that they have fans? I'm having trouble concentrating due to the heat."

Syaoran reached over to his work phone and dialed a number. A few minutes later, he turned his attention back to Sakura. "They said that they're going to try to bring one up here. There's not enough to go around to all the offices, so you'll have to move in here for the time being so we can share it." He cleared half of his desk off, leaving a clean, brown wooden surface for her to place her items.

She went back into her office and grabbed what she needed before heading back. While she did this, he brought her chair into his room and scooted his over to make room for hers.

One of the custodians came and set up the fan, leaving quickly after.

Syaoran placed paperweights onto the papers on his desk before turning the fan on full blast. He leaned back into his seat and sighed in relief.

Sakura sat down next to him, their chairs barely an inch apart. She closed her eyes as the wind blew on her. Although it was warm air, it was better than nothing. After five minutes of rest time, she began to work. Only the scratching of pencil across paper and the clicking of the keyboard filled the air for the next few minutes. It was a comfortable silence.

"Sakura, will you get me the documents in the manila folder that's labeled 'June Transactions?' It's in the top drawer by you."

"Oh sure." Sakura pulled out the wooden drawer with her left hand and searched through the files with her right. "Your desk is definitely cleaner than Eriol's," she said as she pulled out the needed yellow manila folder.

He took it from her. "Eriol?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I introduced you to him last time at the party, remember? He's the guy with the blue hair and glasses."

He replied emotionlessly. "I remember him."

They continued working before Syaoran suddenly spoke.

"He seems to have a thing for you."

Sakura looked up from the documents and into his amber eyes. "What?"

He clarified. "Your _ex_-boss. He seemed to have a thing for you."

Sakura let out a loud laugh, her eyes lighting with humor as she shook her head back and forth in denial. "Oh no way. He doesn't."

"He does. He's sly so you don't notice it."

Sakura turned her body slightly towards her boss to face him more fully. "Syaoran, he's engaged to Tomoyo, and he loves her dearly. He loves me too, but not that way. How did you come to that conclusion anyway?"

"Oh… I didn't realize he was engaged."

She sent him a cheeky grin. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were jealous."

"Perhaps I was."

She expected to take him off guard with her comment but he managed to surprise _her_ with his comment instead. "Uh huh," she said disbelievingly after she recovered.

He didn't reply.

They both went to work but the contract being finished on Syaoran's computer suddenly gripped her attention. Her eyes widened as he attached the file in an email and when his mouse went towards the "send" button, she lunged over him and pushed the mouse out of the way before he could click it.

Syaoran lifted an eyebrow at the woman leaning over his lap, not that he minded. His secretary regained her balance and moved off of him, sending him a glare. "Are you kidding me?" she exclaimed. "You were going to send _that_ over?"

He nodded.

She huffed. "What were you thinking? That was horribly written! It didn't even cover half of the things it was supposed to!"

"It was just a draft," he said easily.

"Just a draft? Syaoran, that draft is going to be the basis for everything! How do you construct a proper contract when the guidelines in the first draft are so lousy?" He didn't reply. Sakura sighed and cupped his face, turning it so that it fully faced hers. "Syaoran. You aren't your father. I have no doubt that even if you decide to become serious about the company and your work that you won't disregard your family."

He gave her a soft smile and lifted one of his hands up to hers, giving it a light squeeze. "Thanks."

She could tell he was still worried. "You're stressed out," Sakura noted.

He denied it. She replied with a lift of her eyebrow, showing her incredulity. He shook his head again to deny it and she sent him a disbelieving look. She changed her strategy and released his face. "Let's go take a break. It's too hot to do anything right now, and nothing is due any time soon anyways." She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the door. He went along with her. "Just let me call your mother to let her know that we're both leaving."

Five minutes later, they were situated in her car. She placed on her sunglasses, started the car, and backed out of the parking space.

* * *

><p>Syaoran released a small, amused smile. "You brought me to a bakery."<p>

She inhaled the soothing scent of freshly baked bread and cake. Immediately, she relaxed in the air conditioned room. "Rika is an amazing baker. You won't regret it. She makes the best apple pie." Her face suddenly lit up as she saw her friend. "Rika!"

The elegant, soft-spoken woman with shoulder length brown hair smiled brightly. "Sakura! How are you?"

Sakura led Syaoran to the counter. "I'm great. How are you?"

"I'm great as well."

"That's good." The two participated in light chatter for a moment before Sakura introduced Syaoran. "Oh, I brought a friend of mine today, Syaoran Li. And Syaoran, this is Rika. By the way Rika, can I get two slices of your apple pie? And two iced coffees, please." She turned back to Syaoran. "Any protests?"

He shook his head with a small smile. "It sounds good."

They had a little quarrel about who would pay, causing Rika to giggle as she saw the scene.

"I invited you here today, so I should pay," said Sakura.

Syaoran pulled out a few bills out of his black, expensive wallet. "That is precisely the reason why I insist on paying. You drove me here and invited me. It's only fair that I pay."

She pushed his money back towards his wallet. "You've helped me out so many times and I never truly got the chance to thank you. I'll pay."

Rika giggled. "You two are cute."

Sakura's face grew pink and Syaoran took advantage of the moment to give Rika the money. Rika smiled and after returning his change, she handed them their food. Sakura and Syaoran chose a seat in the back.

"Thanks for paying."

He smiled. "Anytime."

She smiled back and began eating with delight. After she swallowed the first bite, she spoke. "This is amazing."

Syaoran smirked and took a bite of his own pie, agreeing with Sakura. "It's really good."

"Isn't it? I come here when I'm stressed sometimes. There just something about sweets that cheers me up."

When he had finished the pie, he admitted that he was feeling less stressed. However, whether his light hearted mood was due to the delicious pie or because of the company he had was a different story altogether.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Just wanted to apologize for the late update! Also, a few replies:

To **Summerblossom12****/SxSlol**: (I'm assuming you're the same person?) It's really flattering to know that I inspired you to write. If you need any random tips/critique/advice, feel free to ask me! :)

To** BlossomofShadows** and **Guest**: I read your reviews with a smile. Glad to know that I have such dedicated readers. :)

To all my **reviewers**: In order to speed up the process of updating, I'm not including all of your names here, like I usually do. However, please know that I'm thankful for all these reviews and that I do read each and every one of them. Reviews keep me motivated and happy! (Especially those longer ones.) So please keep on reviewing!


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